This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New Edinburgh-Munich air route
16/11/2006
A new daily air service between Edinburgh and Munich will begin next April, supported by the Scottish government's Route Development Fund.
Transport Minister Tavish Scott said:
"This new service between Edinburgh and Munich is great news for Scotland. It will open up new opportunities for Scottish businesses and bring benefits for Scottish tourism.
"Munich is one of the most important cities in Europe and this announcement is another step forward in our aim of increasing the number of direct air services between Scotland and the rest of the world.
"At a time when our economy is growing, and Scotland's tourism figures are at their highest ever levels, this is further encouraging news. RDF continues to attract airlines to expand in Scotland giving us direct links to some of the world's key transport hubs."
Mary McLaughlin, Director of Transport at Scottish Enterprise which co-funds and manages the Route Development Fund (RDF) on behalf of the Executive, said:
"Direct air services to Munich has been long sought after as the area has many connections with Scotland, especially through financial services and hi-tech sectors. It is also a welcome addition to the other direct services to Germany created with support from the RDF."
Easyjet intends to introduce a daily Edinburgh to Munich service commencing April 2007. It will be a year-round service with a maximum of 7 rotations per week.
The services will be operated on an Airbus 319 which has a capacity of 156 seats.
The RDF is provided through the Scottish Budget with £14.4 million funding over the period 2005-06 to 2007-08.
It supports new air links where airlines can demonstrate the services will have a direct economic benefit to Scotland. The flights must involve regularly scheduled services and must not undermine existing flights.
The exact amount from the fund given to the airline cannot be disclosed due to reasons of commercial confidentiality.
Since it was introduced in November 2002, the Route Development Fund has brought aound £100 million of economic benefit to the Scottish economy. There are now over 30 routes currently operating which are supported by the RDF, and last year fund-supported routes carried about 1.4 million passengers.