Economy Minister welcomes Easyjet expansion

Economy Minister Nigel Dodds has welcomed the announcement from easyjet of four new European routes and an additional aircraft to be based at Belfast International Airport.

The new routes are to Gdansk in Poland, Prague, Venice and Barcelona.

The Minister said: “This is tremendous news. It represents the confidence that easyjet has in the Northern Ireland economy, as well as in our growing aviation industry.

“In last week’s Programme for Government, economic growth was recognised as a top priority. The tourism industry holds great development potential and we’ve set the ambitious goal of increasing the number of tourists visiting Northern Ireland to 2.5 million and grow tourism revenue to £520m each year by 2011.

“Our economy can benefit from these four new routes, which offer a further choice for leisure and business travellers alike.

“I commend easyjet and the Belfast International Airport for their continued development and commitment to Northern Ireland.”

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