Transavia to open new Dublin-Munich service in 2017

Budget airline Transavia plans to launch a Dublin-Munich service from next year as part of its summer schedule.

The Air France-KLM offshoot said on Wednesday that it will begin flying between the Republic's capital and Munich in Bavaria, southern Germany in early April.

Transavia will fly three times a week and is hoping to attract leisure and business travellers to the service.

The airline's spokesman, Hervé Kozar, explained that the success of its Dublin-Paris route prompted it to launch the Munich service. "This opening is part of our strategy to expand our presence in Northern Europe, " he said.

Meanwhile, online trade newsletter Anna Aero says that 75,000 people searched the internet for flights from Cork to Rome in the last year, indicating demand for a service connecting the two cities.

The industry publication has named Cork-Rome as its “unserved route of the week” on the strength of the demand for the flights, which it estimated was enough to sustain a twice- or thrice-weekly service.

Anna Aero uses data provided by Skyscanner to identify its unserved routes. The breakdown of the searches was 54 per cent/46 per cent in favour of Rome.

The publication suggested that either Alitalia or Ryanair, which has a significant presence at the Italian city's Fiumicino Airport, could operate the service.

Similarly, it points out that Aer Lingus, which has aircraft based at Cork Airport, could fly the route.

Anna Aero has previously nominated Dublin-Miami as its unserved route of the week. The service is one of those that industry sources speculate Aer Lingus may launch next year.