Flights between Liverpool and Frankfurt begin today - opening up 150 routes from Europe

The first direct flight in ten years between Frankfurt and Liverpool landed on Wednesday morning heralding the start of a new era connecting the two cities.

Why is it important?

The route will allow passengers from Liverpool to connect to over 150 destinations in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and the Americas via Frankfurt.

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce said it will be good for the local economy, business and investment opportunities.

It will be the first time in its 66-year history in Britain that Lufthansa will take off from Liverpool.

Northern Europe Lufthansa Group, senior sales director, Heinrich Lange said Liverpool was an interesting city for visitors not only for its history, music and sport but also as ‘an important trade and business city’.

He said he went to Liverpool’s city centre ‘to soak up the atmosphere’ and watch the Champions League semi-final which saw Liverpool FC beat Villarreal 3-2 on Tuesday evening.

There is a Friday evening flight from Liverpool to Frankfurt and Mr Lange revealed the airline would be assessing if it had the ‘right capacity’ to make sure travel to the final in Paris on Saturday Mwas ‘well served’ for Liverpool fans who might want to go via Germany for the match in Paris on Saturday May 28.

He told BBC Radio Merseyside: “For sure we will keep a close eye on it, the flight perfectly connects to our flights to Paris.

“We just need to see if we have the right capacity but you can rest assure that we will keep a close eye on it to make sure this event is well served for the Liverpool fans.”

Water baptism for inaugural flight

Lufthansa flight LH968 from Frankfurt touched down shortly after 8am to receive the traditional airport welcome for inaugural flights with a water arch aircraft baptism.

It was performed by the airport’s rescue and fire fighting service as the aircraft taxied over to the terminal building.

This was followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony at the aircraft steps ahead of the departure to Frankfurt.

What has been said?

LJLA’s CEO John Irving commented: “We are delighted to see this important and strategic new route come to fruition, with Lufthansa welcomed here today by representatives of the business community and visitor economy from across the Liverpool City Region, Cheshire and North Wales.

“This route reconnects Liverpool with the world, now enabling travellers from across the region fly to a host of global destinations via Lufthansa’s seamless connections at Frankfurt, with the added advantage of all the passenger benefits of flying from Liverpool.”

When are the flights?

Their are four weekly connections from Liverpool.

Every Wednesday and Sunday:

LH968 Frankfurt 07:25 Liverpool 08:05

LH969 Liverpool 08:50 Frankfurt 11:30

Every Monday and Friday:

LH968 Frankfurt 16:05 Liverpool 16:45

LH969 Liverpool 17:30 Frankfurt 19:10