Buisness travellers are being targeted at Germanwings plans a new service from Manchester to Cologne/Bonn.
Five flights a week are planned from October for the winter.
Germanwings already serves London year round and Edinburgh and Dublin during the summer.
The carrier is reviewing additional options within the market for future opportunities, a statement said.
The new Manchester link comes as a part of a focus on business travel.
More than 40% of the airline’s customers are now made up of corporate travellers.
CEO Thomas Winkelmann said: “Manchester is an important step for us. It has one of the fastest growing economies in Britain today, and is seen by many as the UK’s second city.
“By launching a service connecting it directly with Cologne/Bonn we hope to tap into a major business market which continues to grow rapidly.”
“At the same time we also expect the route to be extremely popular with leisure travellers in the North West, who will now not only be able to visit Germany’s oldest city, Cologne, but will also be able to connect to more than 60 other European destinations quickly and efficiently.”
