Germanwings to take on Ryanair with Dublin-to-Cologne service

Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings is planning to launch a Dublin-Cologne service this winter in a move that will see it taking on Irish low-cost operator, Ryanair.

The Irish airline recently announced the introduction of a daily service from Dublin to Cologne-Bonn Airport as part of an expansion of its overall winter schedule.

It emerged at the weekend that Germanwings plans to offer twice-weekly flights on the same route from October to March, making it the second airline to announce winter flights between the two airports in the space of a month and putting it in direct competition with Ryanair.

It flies four times a week to the city during the summer months.

Dublin Airport has seen significant growth in services to Germany recently. Aer Lingus has launched a summer service to Hanover, while late last year Ryanair began flying to Bremen. The country is Ireland's third biggest tourism market after the US and Britain.

Short-haul operations
Germanwings has been operating from Dublin for a decade. Over the past year its parent, Lufthansa, has been moving all its short-haul operations to the airline, apart from those serving Frankfurt and Munich airports. Earlier this year Germanwings took over the Dublin-Dusseldorf route, and has since doubled flights on it to four times a week for the summer season.