flts to DUS???????
TALKS on introducing direct flights between Inverness and Germany are at an advanced stage and a service could begin early next year, The Inverness Courier has learned.
German airline Lufthansa is discussing the possibility of launching a route linking the Highland Capital with a German city, possibly Dusseldorf.
If state-owned Highlands and Islands Airports (HIA), which runs the airport at Dalcross, manages to secure the service it would be seen as a major coup at a time when most airlines are scaling back their operations.
A scheduled service with Europe has been a key goal of HIA for the past five years and would be welcomed by business leaders in Inverness and the region's tourist industry.
Last night HIA spokesman Nat Anderson was reluctant to go into detail but confirmed Germany was a target because of its potential for both business and leisure traffic.
"We have had positive discussions with a major carrier regarding a direct air link to Germany and hope to be in a position to make an announcement on the outcome of this work soon," he said.
A spokeswoman for Lufthansa would not confirm whether the company had been in talks with the airport or whether Inverness featured in its future plans.
"We are always looking at potential new routes," she said.
Inverness is the largest and busiest of HIA's 10 airports, handling more than 330 scheduled flights a week to Scottish and UK destinations plus Dublin.
It has not offered a scheduled route to Europe or Scandinavia since 2004, when budget airline Snowflake introduced flights between Inverness and Stockholm. However, just four months after the launch, the plug was pulled on the service.
At the time, Snowflake said it had over-estimated likely demand — passenger numbers between Stockholm and Inverness were not proving economical for the size of plane operating on the route.
Hopes had been high of resurrecting a service to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, with both Flybe and Eastern Airlines exploring the possibility of a tie-up with Dutch carrier KLM earlier this year. However, those plans were put on the back burner when the credit crunch began to bite.
Lufthansa, which employs more than 94,000 people worldwide, operates flights to 192 destinations in 78 countries.