It has been hailed as a potential lifeline for local businesses looking to grow overseas, but Dundee’s new direct flight to Amsterdam proved a holiday saver for one Dutch couple.
Dres Petra and Christoph Blumel first visited Scotland 25 years ago as part of their Honeymoon, so their sons chipped in to send them back over for their silver wedding anniversary.
A disaster with a hire car meant they missed their return flight from Edinburgh on Sunday but thankfully they were able to hop on the first flight from Dundee, which had an added bonus.
Mrs Petra said: “We were so happy because it was not possible for us to get a direct flight from Edinburgh. We will definitely use this again.”
There was also joy for Stephen Fox, 51, a council worker from Dundee who was given free flight vouchers after being the first person to book flights on the new route.
“It was a big surprise to me,” he said. “I don’t know when I’ll use them because I had already booked another two flights.”
Iain Hutchison, managing director of Merlin ERD in Perth, said the new route would help his company further buck the trend in the oil and gas sector by expanding again after recently hiring more staff.
He added: “This is huge. Instead of dragging our way down to Edinburgh or Glasgow we can go through Amsterdam to the rest of the world.”