Tourism boost as easyJet to fly six new routes from Edinburgh

Transport Correspondent

Friday 12 October 2012

EASYJET will start flying six new routes from Edinburgh next March, including the city's first direct flights to Berlin, Hamburg and Reykjavik.

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DAMIEN HENDERSON Transport Correspondent

The latest expansion will create around 160 jobs and provide a £90 million boost to Scotland's tourism sector, with a further 500 jobs expected to be created indirectly.

The airline will also fly to Prague, Copenhagen and Dubrovnik as a result of basing two additional planes in the capital and boost the total number of easyJet routes to 30.

The announcement came yesterday as traffic figures showed a 2% slump in passenger numbers at Edinburgh last month, continuing a trend seen since spring, when the airport was purchased by from BAA by Gatwick owner Global Infrastructure Partners.It said the drop was down to fewer people flying between Edinburgh and London, though international traffic has been boosted by an increase in passengers flying long-haul via Amsterdam with KLM.Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, which are both still owned by BAA, saw passenger numbers grow by 4% and 10% respectively last month.EasyJet said the new routes would bring in almost 140,000 more passengers a year. The airline's Scottish head Hugh Aitken said: "I'm confident our new 2013 schedule will really appeal to people travelling to and from Scotland, both on business and for leisure, and will further bolster Edinburgh's world-famous appeal for tourists."VisitScotland has hailed the new routes and the German links in particular. German visitors make up the biggest European tourism market to Scotland.The first Airbus A319 is scheduled to arrive on December 2, with the second plane beginning operations in March next year.The new routes start on March 21 next year, apart from Dubrovnik, which begins on April 27.EasyJet carried more than 4.5 million passengers between its four Scottish airports – Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness – in the year to the end of June.It expects to have nearly five million passengers in Scotland next year, securing its place as the biggest airline operating in the country.Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar said: "Today's announcement is hugely exciting for Scottish aviation by re-linking Edinburgh with Berlin and Reykjavik, and adding fantastic new destinations such as Hamburg and Prague. I'm sure these new routes will boost business and leisure travel to and from Scotland, underlining aviation's key role in our economy."Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the expansion represented a major endorsement and vote of confidence in Edinburgh and Scotland, and work was ongoing to deliver further direct routes.

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Tourism boost as easyJet to fly six new routes from Edinburgh

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