Eager travellers snapped up 1200 advance tickets for Dundee Airport’s new connection with Amsterdam within two days of the route being confirmed.
The phenomenal uptake means that 25 seats to the Dutch capital were booked every hour.
Confirmation of the numbers was revealed during a meeting between Dundee West MP Chris Law and airport operators HIAL.
Mr Law, who campaigned for the route to be given the green light, hailed the figures and said he believes it could give Dundee Airport a new lease of life.
He said: “I understand that there were 1,200 bookings in the first couple of days after the announcement of the flight which is fantastic news.
“This new route could also help boost the Stansted route in the longer term as more people will use the airport and start to see the benefits of the shorter travel time from here, rather than heading to Edinburgh.
“It’s great that the people of Dundee got behind the online campaign we ran and of course The Courier did a great job in promoting it as well.”
Local MSP Joe FitzPatrick added: “The initial bookings look really positive and it seems the people of Dundee are very enthusiastic about the ability to fly directly to Europe from their own doorstep.
“The challenge now is to use the route as an opportunity to sell our city as a tourist and business destination to potential visitors from Europe.”
Flight operators Flybe say they have been “extremely heartened” by the early demand for seats.
Vincent Hodder, Flybe’s chief revenue officer, revealed that the response to date has exceeded expectations and that the airline now believe the launch is well on course to be one of their most successful new routes ever.
He said: “We are extremely pleased with the public response to date and would like to thank the many stakeholders including the UK Government, the airport and local tourism authorities for cooperating in their support of this first international connection between Dundee and a major European hub city.”
Dundee airport manager Derrick Lang said: “The response from the travelling public has been remarkable. We were confident there would be strong interest in this new route and advance ticket sales have been hugely encouraging.”
The first flight from Dundee to Amsterdam departs at 12.25pm on May 23. The cheapest available ticket for the two-hour flight is just £17.88.
However, anyone hoping to make a day trip to the Netherlands will be disappointed.
Flights from Schiphol Airport to Dundee take off at 10.50am, so an overnight stay in Amsterdam is necessary.
The cheapest flight from Amsterdam to Dundee will cost around £26.