Minister unveils new Discover Scotland plane and new routes from Edinburgh

Minister unveils “Discover Scotland” aircraft taking trade mission to Hamburg

Today easyJet, Scotland’s largest airline, was joined by Humza Yousaf, Minister for External Affairs, at Edinburgh Airport to officially unveil a new aircraft dedicated “Discover Scotland” and launch six brand new routes – Hamburg, Reykjavik, Berlin, Prague, Copenhagen and Dubrovnik.

The new routes will open up important new trading links for the Scottish economy and easyJet has linked with the Scottish Chamber of Commerce to fly a delegation of leading businesses and organisations on a special trade mission to Hamburg onboard the inaugural flight.

Ten organisations from across Scotland, ranging from manufacturing and photography to legal and linguistics, will spend two days in Hamburg showcasing the breadth and quality of Scottish services and exports.

Hugh Aitken, Head of Scotland for easyJet said:

“As Scotland’s largest airline we’re delighted to facilitate the trade mission on board our inaugural flight to Hamburg. The introduction of six new routes will make it easier and more affordable for businesses of all sizes to do business in Europe. We know a great number of businesses already choose to fly with easyJet on our direct flights to cities such as Milan and Madrid, as well as between Scotland and London where we operate a business schedule of up to 160 flights a week.

“easyJet is committed to providing Scotland with an ever wider range of holiday and trading destinations and we look forward to welcoming passengers on board the new services.”

External Affairs Minister Humza Yousaf said:

“easyJet’s new route from Edinburgh to Hamburg will help build Scotland’s business and cultural links with Germany’s second largest and most prosperous city – providing greater opportunities for co-operation between our two nations.

“Scotland is a high quality market for any airline and it is my firm belief that this route will be a great success.”

easyJet expects the addition of a seventh aircraft to Edinburgh Airport to bring an additional 140,000 holidaymakers and business travellers to Scotland – benefitting the economy by almost £90m.

Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport:

“Route development is one of our key priorities and we are committed to providing all of our passengers with the best choice of routes possible.  The launch of these six new easyJet routes will strengthen our relationship with Scotland’s largest airline and will enable us to widen our reach as a capital city, opening up exciting new trade and commercial opportunities for our local business partners.

“We launched our new Route Development fund in January to drive competition and attract new airlines and new routes to Edinburgh, we will work hard with Scotland’s business community to make sure we are targeting and attracting the routes that they need.”

Nora Senior, Chair Scottish Chamber of Commerce, said:

“easyJet’s continued investment in Scotland is vitally important to our economy, providing direct links to an increasing number of key overseas markets.  Chambers of Commerce across Scotland are working hard to support businesses as they seek to develop their international trade ambitions and Scottish Chambers of Commerce are delighted to be working with easyJet to bring this trade mission to Hamburg.  Germany is Scotland’s number four export market, worth over £1.3 billion a year to Scottish businesses.  New air routes bring such markets even closer and provide new opportunities for Scottish businesses to succeed.”

From 21 March easyJet will link Scotland with Copenhagen, Berlin, Hamburg, Reykjavik and Prague. From 27 April they will also serve the popular holiday destination of Dubrovnik. To serve these destinations easyJet are adding 2 new aircraft to their Edinburgh base and generating 160 new jobs. In total easyJet this summer will offer 51 routes across Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.

Flights to Hamburg start from £38.99 including all taxes and charges and can be booked via www.easyJet.com