New car hire centre in Dusseldorf

A new car hire centre has opened in Dusseldorf, those considering renting a vehicle during their German holidays may be interested to hear.

The facility is located at Dusseldorf Airport and will feature 2,500 parking spaces, a car wash and a customer care centre on the ground floor of the nine-storey complex.

Chrisoph Blume, chief executive of the airport management company, said that the new facility is just the beginning of the hub's plans to make travel easier for airport arrivals.

He explained: "With the new car rental centre in the direct vicinity to the terminal, we continue extending the range of services for our passengers at Germany's third largest airport."

Around 300,000 car rentals and returns are expected to be processed at the centre during the first year.

Holidaymakers touching down will be able to access the car hire complex directly from the departures lounge, making renting a vehicle easier than ever.

Airport authorities are hoping that not only will customers receive a more integrated service, but that the complex will help car hire firms trade.

The "ultra-modern" centre will be used by customers flying into Dusseldorf using airlines such as Flybe, British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa.

Mr Blume added: "We put a modern platform with more space and an extended offer for their operations at the car rental firm's disposal."

Meanwhile, car hire customers heading to the Mediterranean have been warned that they rogue firms are leasing sub-standard vehicles.

The Eurotest consortium checked the quality of vehicles at 60 car hire firms in 12 Mediterranean resorts and found one car with brakes that were "falling to pieces".

Another vehicle had oil leaking from the engine while more than ten per cent of rental vehicles were leased with empty fuel tanks.

Paul Watters, from the AA which is part of the Eurotest consortium, said: "The threat to drivers and passengers from rogue vehicles was considerable.

"Although the condition of most cars is better than one might expect, vehicles in Malta and the small off-roaders that many holidaymakers try out for the first time are truly scary."

He concluded that despite the worrying results, overall, quality of service and "potentially expensive pitfalls in agreements, insurance and car-checking" had improved since 2005, when the survey was last carried out.

© Adfero Ltd