HLX following Germanwings into Dublin for 2004

[lowfaresbuster]

Irish Examiner Story (http://www.examiner.ie/breaking/2003/12/09/story124819.html)



09/12/2003 - 8:37:17 AM

Budget airline plans Dublin-German route

German budget airline Hapag-Lloyd Express plans a route from Dublin to Germany next year.

The company publishes its 2004 schedule next week when it will be expected to announce the new service.


It will join German competitor, Germanwings - part-owned by Lufthansa - who announced a Dublin to Cologne/Bonn service last week.

will it be Stuttgart, or will there be a head to head with Germanwings on the Cologne route?

[akerosid]

I certainly hope they don't compete directly; there's a lot of the Bundesrepublik not covered from Ireland - Hamburg, for example - without having to compete directly. I would expect them to do STR or Hannover, although someone should add HAM from DUB. I see very little point in lo-cos competing with each other directly (and I include FR undercutting GO on GLA/EDI in that). There's more than enough of low cost traffic to go around. Next year should be a very good year for Ireland - Germany traffic, with EI adding Berlin and now, these two German carriers.

Incidentally, I wonder how the German lo-cos are getting on; the German greens seem to be more vociferous than most about aviation and its alleged environmental effects.

[nef]

It was rumoured recently that HLX have held talks at EDI and GLA about possible services - does anyone know anything about this, or will we just have to wait and see next week?

[lowfaresbuster]

Stuttgart and Hamburg



according to todays irish examiner:

19/12/2003 - 10:12:23 AM

Aer Rianta to confirm new routes to Germany

Later today, Aer Rianta is expected to confirm the arrival of two new airlines to Dublin next year,
offering low fare routes to Europe.

German low cost operator Hapag Lloyd is expected to announce services to Stuttgart and Hamburg starting in April and KLM offshoot Transavia is also understood to have agreed to start a route to Rotterdam in the summer.

These new arrivals follow the announcement earlier this month that low-cost airline Germanwings -
part-owned by Lufthansa - will be operating a Dublin to Cologne/Bonn service from February.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/2003/12/19/story126377.html

[FlyingV]

Confirmation from Aer Rianta

http://www.aer-rianta.ie/AR_Corporate/Live/Lv_Pres_View_NewsItem.asp?intStory_ID=122

[4U338]

Interesting developments for Dublin.

Any chances of HLX returning to London, possibly with routes to Stuttgart, Hannover and/or Hamburg? I was surprised that they abandoned the CGN-LTN route so quickly.