EUROPEAN AIR EXPRESS, one of the few independent regional airlines in Germany, aims to take advantage of a growth in demand for services to Eastern Europe as it attempts to develop its niche operations. The M”nchengladbach-based carrier is ready for a period of slow, steady growth, and plans to increase its fleet of aircraft to double figures by the end of 2006. In the past year, EAE has positioned itself as a specialist for the Polish market, launching services from Cologne/Bonn to Wroclaw, Poznan and Lodz: the latter service is the only international link to Poland's second largest city. It is now seeking to further expand its interests in the Polish market, though from outside Germany including a possible new service from Brussels to Poznan. With the accession of ten new countries into the European Union, EAE is looking at new options on the eastern fringes of Europe and according to its chief executive Ulrich Sigmann countries such as Belarus, Ukraine and Russia could offer strategic growth opportunities.
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