Airline passengers are not normally ecstatic about boarding full flights, but Hilary Fitzgibbon was pleased to see a packed plane last weekend. By her reckoning, only three out of 76 seats were free on Friday’s Luxair flight from Luxembourg Findel to Dublin Airport, and only four out of the 76 were empty on her return flight Sunday.

Luxembourg’s national airline re-launched the service on March 30 after dropping the line two and half years ago due to poor financial performance. “They showed us the figures,” said an understanding Fitzgibbon, an organiser of the “Save the Luxair Lux-Dub route” campaign that started in 2011.

The group had kept in contact with several carriers and lobbied the Dublin Airport Authority for help in finding an airline to take on the route. When Luxair announced its flights would start up again, “I can’t even express how delighted I was.”

Flights important for friends and family

“My mum hasn’t been over since the direct flight went. My mom is older, so it’s more difficult for her to fly Ryanair” which involves long bus connections at off hours to Charleroi or Frankfurt Hahn airports. CityJet dropped its flights to London City airport on March 29, and Fitzgibbon said connecting via Frankfurt Main airport is a major hassle.

Fitzgibbon said her mum “appreciates” the level of service on Luxair, and “I’ve already booked a flight for her this summer.” She told Delano on Monday that for many Irish residents with older relatives: “it’s a godsend to have direct flights so parents can come over.”

She has also booked flights home for Easter, and thanks to Luxair’s earlier €99 launch promotion, “every other weekend over the summer I have someone visiting me”.

Limited appeal for business travellers

Nevertheless Fitzgibbon, who works in the real estate sector, was disappointed by the relatively limited schedule, which means the flights will appeal mainly to leisure travellers. In her view, the timing of flights means that business travellers would have to spend three days out of the office if they flew the Grand Duchy carrier.

“I think they’ve a missed trick there. I understand if they don’t have the capacity, but they are not going to get the business community.”

As for the passengers on last weekend’s journey, Fitzgibbon said there were “huge amounts of Luxembourgers” on-board and “at least 90% were non-Irish” on both of her Dublin flights. The service continuing “depends not just on the Irish community but the international community in Luxembourg as well, so that was really nice to see.”