BRISTOL Airport is set to expand its overseas offering, with a new direct flight to Germany launching next week.

The airport, which is popular with holidaymakers in the Newport and Gwent area, is set to welcome direct flights to Frankfurt Airport.

Operated by German airline Lufthansa, daily flights between the two cities will operate – starting from Monday, August 2.

With Frankfurt known as a business hotspot, especially in the financial sector, the link is likely to prove vital in developing trade between south Wales and the south west, with mainland Europe.

According to Lufthansa, ticket prices for this route are set to start at £104 return (including taxes, fees, carrier charges and carry-on baggage) – with bookings available now.

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It is believed that this is the first direct service between the two cities for more than two years.

Until 2019, Flybmi, on a codeshare with Lufthansa, operated this route.

But, that airline entered administration in February of that year, halting services.

Plans to resume this service was first set for 2020, though the pandemic, and the impact on global travel delayed this.

It is thought that this is the third route between Bristol Airport and Germany, with Ryanair operating flights to Cologne, and easyjet serving routes to Berlin.

The news comes just weeks after flights between Bristol and Dublin resumed, with aviation slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels – though it has yet to reach the same levels as the number of flights pre-March 2020.

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What has been said about the new route?

Dave Lees, Bristol Airport chief executive said: “This is incredibly positive news for Bristol Airport and the region.

“Lufthansa is a major global airline and this decision shows confidence in air travel returning to normal.  The new daily service commencing 2 August between Bristol and Frankfurt opens up a wide range of European and worldwide connections to our customers.  

“Frankfurt is a great city whether for business or leisure and the link between Bristol and Frankfurt allows us to promote the South West and Wales region to inbound visitors from Germany and beyond. Today’s news is a strong indication of the confidence in the region.

“We see great potential for this new service and will work with Lufthansa on other exciting route opportunities in the future.“

Andreas Köster, senior director sales UK, Ireland & Iceland, Lufthansa Group said: “We are looking forward to resuming our Bristol service this upcoming summer and offering our customers great connectivity within our world-wide, multi-hub system. 

“As one of the largest carriers in Europe, with just a short stopover in Frankfurt, our customers will have access to hundreds of connections to numerous destinations within our vast, global network.”