Birmingham launches flights to Hamburg

Birmingham Airport was brought to life with a party atmosphere this week as it hosted the launch of a new service to Hamburg.

Lufthansa will offer six flights a week between the West Midlands and the German city.

Jennifer Dienst was one of the passengers on the inaugural flight and was given a bottle of champagne and tickets for flights to any destination on the Lufthansa network from Birmingham.

Marianne Sammann, the airline's general manager for the UK and Ireland, said: "Today is a very special day for Lufthansa and shows the importance of Birmingham within Lufthansa's worldwide network.

"As well as offering our Birmingham passengers quick and easy access to Germany's second largest city – Hamburg city centre is just 20 minutes from the airport – the service also increases the availability of onward connections as Lufthansa continues to develop Hamburg as a mini-hub to Central and Eastern Europe."

Lufthansa has been operating from Birmingham Airport for 20 years and also offers flights to Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich.