Road Warrior

Lufthansa numbers flying up The Lufthansa group of airlines, which also includes Swiss, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and German Wings, is reporting an excellent first half year. There were 60 million passengers carried, an increase of 18 per cent. Load factor across the group was 82.6 per cent.

Lufthansa announced recently that it is to add a fourth daily service on its Dublin to Frankfurt route this winter.

Overall, the Lufthansa group operates 63 flights per week from Dublin to Frankfurt, Munich, Coln, Dusseldorf, Geneva and Zurich, and two from Cork to Geneva. This is Lufthansa’s sixth expansion of its Dublin services since 2014.

Virtual reality whiskey tour at Dublin Airport A good reason to go to the airport earlier is the Walsh Whiskey Distillery virtual tour. At the Loop at Dublin Airport T2 , you can take a tour of the picturesque distillery which is located in Royal Oak, Carlow. Walsh Whiskey is known for the brands The Irishman and Writer's Tears. There will be a tasting of the whiskies.

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New 172 car registrations dip in first 10 days

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The new distillery has a capacity to produce 8.5 million bottles a year. The three-minute virtual reality tour was produced by The VR Agency and ARI, the operators of the airport. The Walsh Whiskey pop up shop will be open until the end of August.

The Loop offers a collection service for purchases at the airport.

Second warning from Ryanair about bags Here's the second warning from Ryanair about cabin baggage. Most flights during the summer will be almost full. The cabin can only take 90 cabin bags. Excess bags will be carried for free in the hold. However Ryanair has noticed that people are turning up with bigger bags lately and laden down with other bags. "Gate agents will rigorously enforce our carry-on policy to avoid flight delays," said Kenny Jacobs. So do not spoil it for everyone by causing Ryanair to change their policy. Remember the old days of trying to wear all your clothes home so you could stuff the airport shopping your handbag and laptop in your one allowed bag of 10kg?

Travel insurance sales up, travel up

Looks like people are planning a lot more holidays and trips away. Blue Insurance’s Multitrip online travel insurance has seen growth of 40 per cent compared to last year. “Last year’s air traffic control strikes across Europe have made Irish consumers more cautious and more wary of travelling without insurance,” said Ciarán Mulligan of Blue Insurances. Car Hire Excess insurance is also seeing a surge in growth as people realise they will be charged up to €25 a day or have a big sum blocked on their credit cards. Car hire excess insurance works out at about €2.99 per day.