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Lufthansa has begun flights out of Northern Ireland for the first time with a new route from Belfast City Airport to Frankfurt.

The route was announced by the German airline in December 2022.

It is the only direct flight between Northern Ireland and Germany and will operate four days a week.

Dr Frank Wagner, from Lufthansa, said Frankfurt will provide onward connectivity to many main business destinations.

"We have decided to give it a go now and connect Belfast to Frankfurt, and via Frankfurt, to over 200 destinations worldwide," he said.

"We are already seeing it in the booking development now all over Europe, but also further afield to Africa, Asia and South America.

"We provide connectivity via Frankfurt but obviously it will also boost bi-lateral trade between Northern Ireland and Germany."

Katy Best, commercial director at Belfast City Airport, said it now has seven main airline partners and a route network of almost 30 destinations.

"This is really big news in terms of connectivity for Northern Ireland post-Covid," she said.

"There's a huge amount of interest from German and Belfast businesses in this route.

"Germany is the third largest market for the island of Ireland and Tourism Ireland have put a huge amount of work into promoting Belfast and this route."