Germanwings takes off in Hamburg (press release)

Leading low-cost airline to expand operations at its fourth hub

Carrier unveils three new destinations as a part of its winter 09 schedule

Germanwings, the low-cost airline for Europe, has today announced that it will be expanding its operations in Hamburg as a part of its 2009 winter schedule. From the end of October 2009, the carrier will increase the number of flights from its Cologne / Bonn hub to five per day and will also launch new routes to the Austrian cities of Klagenfurt and Salzburg.

The news contrasts with recent gloom in the low-cost aviation sector and confirms that Hamburg will be a key focus for the airline's growth in the second half of 2009. Germanwings believes that passenger figures at its fourth domestic hub will rise from an expected 430,000 this year to 630,000 in 2010, and will be stationing an additional aircraft in the city from November to cater for the extra demand.

The airline's summer flight schedule (available from the 29^th March) already includes six destinations served directly from Hamburg; Stuttgart, Toulouse, Split, Pristina, Corfu and Istanbul, as well as a host of other European cities through Smart-Connect fast transfer flights from nearby Stuttgart.

Also included in the 2009 winter timetable will be new routes to Austria and Italy. Travellers from Cologne / Bonn will now be able to take advantage of great quality, low cost flights to Klagenflurt and Salzburg five times per week, with a further 7 services a week to Venice.

The Germanwings Smart-Connect service will continue to be available to all travellers transferring through Cologne / Bonn, Stuttgart and Berlin airports, providing quick and hassle free access to the carrier's entire route network.

The new winter destinations are now all available through the Germanwings website: www.germanwings.com