GLASGOW has been chosen over Edinburgh by an German airline which will begin daily flights from Scotland to Dusseldorf.

It will be the first time in 20 years that Luf- thansa Regional has provided a link between Glasgow and one of Germany's richest cities.

The air link will start a daily service on June 24 but from April 8 there will be six flights a week.

Though it is a snub to Edinburgh, the move is seen as a major coup for Glasgow. Lufthansa had been operating summer flights to Dusseldorf from Edinburgh since 2010 but this ended when it found the majority of its passengers were from Scotland's west coast.

A Lufthansa spokesman said it was driven "purely by customer demand".

He said not only did they want to see the service based in Scotland's biggest city but so too did passengers flying from Germany.

Senior officials at Glasgow Airport are jubilant.

Glasgow Airport boss Amanda McMillan today said: "The introduction of Lufthansa Regional's Dusseldorf service is fantastic news for Glasgow Airport.

"Not only will it result in a direct, daily flight to one of the wealthiest regions in Europe, our passengers will once again have access to the extensive onward connectivity offered by the Lufthansa network.

"Both Dusseldorf and Glasgow are economic powerhouses in their own right and whilst there will undoubtedly be strong demand for this service from within the business community, it will prove a big draw for leisure travellers and has huge potential to generate significant in-bound tourism for Glasgow."

Dusseldorf has its own international financial services centre and is known for its trade fairs and contributions to the fashion world.

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk