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Bob the Builder · Guest

Anyone have more info on Germanwings suspending flights?

http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?id=154132003&tid=762

From Scotsman:-
Executive's wings clipped as German flight suspended

A FLAGSHIP airline route between Edinburgh and Germany, cited by the
Scottish Executive as evidence of its commitment to the business community
through the use of public money, is to be suspended.

Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, is to cancel its daily service
between Edinburgh and Cologne from late October. The company has yet to
confirm when the flights are likely to be resumed, although a date around
Easter 2004 is expected to be announced.

The route was unveiled by the Executive in March - alongside three other
services - as the first to be attracted to Scotland through its £6.8 million
air link development fund. The fund pays subsidies out of the Executive's
annual budget, as part of efforts to lure airlines away from London.

At the time of the launch of the Germanwings route, the Executive said its
fund, which was set up last November, demonstrated its commitment to
creating better global transport links for Scottish businesses. Announcing
further new routes in July, enterprise minister Jim Wallace said the
Executive "is committed to doing all we can to help businesses in Scotland,
and these new air routes will do exactly that ... The more direct routes we
can have from Scotland, the more opportunities there are for Scottish
companies."

But many businesses will now find themselves without a direct connection to
Cologne, for up to six months. The German city is close to Frankfurt, the
financial centre of the largest economy in the eurozone and, therefore, a
natural destination for Edinburgh's financial community.

A spokeswoman for the Executive said yesterday that it was unable to ensure
that the airlines offer their routes all- year round.

"We can't instruct the airlines what to do," she said. "We're purely
providing funds to encourage them to set up in [Scotland]." Germanwings did
not return calls to comment on the reasons behind the withdrawal of the
route.

The Executive has said it expects to announce further new routes subsidised
by its funds within months. The scheme fits in with its "Global Connections"
strategy, to provide Scottish companies with improved access to new markets
around the world

Joe Curry · Guest

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