flydubai expands its operations in Kazakhstan

Photo flydubai

Dubai-based low-cost carrier flydubai expands its Kazakhstan operations by offering flights to three points in the country following the relaunch of its Shymkent service from December 28th, 2018

The airline has been flying to Kazakhstan since 2014 and together with the relaunched service to Shymkent and existing flights to Almaty and Astana will operate 13 weekly flights to three points in the country.

Commenting on the recommencement of flights to Shymkent, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said: "We are pleased to see the strengthening of direct air links between the UAE and Kazakhstan, which provide more opportunities for the development of tourism and trade flows. flydubai  has been flying to Kazakhstan since 2014 and we have seen over the years a positive demand from the region.”

flydubai to move some flights to Dubai World Central (DWC)

flydubai has confirmed that it will move some flights to key destinations away from its home base of Dubai International DXB to Dubai World Central (DWC). 

The airline will operate flights to select destinations from Dubai World Central (DWC) in order to provide more travel options to passengers during the southern runway refurbishment project previously announced by Dubai Airports. That refurbishment project is scheduled to take place between 16 April 2019 and 30 May 2019 and during that period flights to some 39 destinations will operate to and from DWC.

Commenting on the announcement, flydubai’s Chief Executive Officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “As we saw in 2014, runway enhancement programmes continue to support the long-term vision for aviation in the UAE. With flydubai flights operating to select destinations from DWC, we aim to not only support this vision but to provide our passengers with as much choice as possible to travel across our network with minimum disruption.”

At DWC passengers will continue to benefit from all the convenient travel services offered by flydubai at one of the world’s future aviation and logistics hubs, flydubai said. 

The destinations affected are:  

Double daily to Kiev for flydubai before airlines switiches airports

Dubai-based flydubai started its second daily a new service today from its home base to Kiev today and confirmed that from 28th October will shift its operations to Boryspil International Airport (KBP) Kiev. Plus the well respected UAE carrier says it will also start live animal transportation. 

flydubai launched its operations to Ukraine in 2011 and offers 17 weekly flights from Kiev and Odessa to Dubai.  Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial at flydubai, said, “We welcome the start of our double daily service from Boryspil International Airport, which provides a more convenient travel experience and better connectivity via Dubai’s aviation hub to some of the most popular leisure destinations. Our passengers from Kiev were also one of the first on our network to enjoy our new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with a flat-bed in Business Class and optimised space and comfort in Economy Class.”

Big losses reported by flydubai

United Arab Emirates low-cost airline flydubai is due to take 7 more Boeing 737s during the last part of this year, which will include its first Max 9 models.

FlyDubai is returning four 737-800s to their leasing firms as it welcomes three take 737 Max 9s and four 737 Max 8s. The airline will “maintain a tight grip” on capacity deployment, in the face of rising fuel prices, as part of its efforts to cut costs and keep spending under control. Senior vice-president of finance Arbind Kumar said Flydubai has achieved “good” revenue growth and that it remains focused on the priorities of improving cost performance, optimising the network, and broadening distribution.

The airline has reported its latest results today, some of the key points include:

Passenger numbers up at Dubai International Airport

The home base of Emirates and flydubai, Dubai International Airport recorded a rise of 1.8% in the number of passengers using the airport during July this year.  The world’s busiest airport for international travellers handled 8.2 million passengers during the month, up from 8.06 million a year ago.

The airport also reported that for the first seven months of the year has also seen an increase in passenger traffic, up 1.6% to 51.9 million. And, it is not just passengers numbers that are up, the amount of cargo handled also went up over the July figures, by 4.8% although the year to end of July was down on last years totals by around 1.6%, although that is to be expected as Al Maktoum International, handles a significant amount of Dubai’s air cargo.   

In terms of growth rate, Eastern Europe was the fastest growing region in July with traffic up 24.4% - mainly fueled by flydubai’s route development plan. The CIS was next, up 18.34% with major contributions from the Russian market and destinations such as Bishkek, Baku and Almaty among others, and Africa (+9.7%).

Recently Emirates airlines announced an increase in schedules to Riyadh with the addition of a fourth daily flight to the Saudi capital from 1st September 2018. The airline is also increasing flights to Amsterdam early next year due to phenomenal increase in demand. 

Flydubai pilot sacked for turning up for flight over the legal alcohol limit

A Pilot who failed a test for alcohol before a flight to Dubai from Nepal last month has been sacked by his airline, FlyDubai.

Flydubai confirmed today that it had dismissed the captain whose blood alcohol level was over the legal limit and was therefore deemed unfit to fly the aircraft back to the home base of the carrier in the United Arab Emirates

Colleagues had raised concerns after the pilot had turned up for the flight on 29th July, the man was tested before boarding the aircraft. At the time Flydubai said it had a zero tolerance on flight deck crew breaching company regulations on alcohol consumption. 

A spokesperson for the airline today said, “Flydubai confirms that the pilot’s employment has been terminated. The safety of our passengers and crew is our priority,”.

flydubai to take over Emirates Zagreb route

The News from the UAE is that Emirates and flydubai have agreed that from 2nd December this year, flydubai will take over the Dubai and Zagreb, Croatia for the winter 2018/19.

Between 2nd December and 30th March 2019 flydubai will operate the route with its new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which offers customers an enhanced travel experience including lie-flat seats in Business Class, the latest Economy Class seating, in-flight entertainment via HD touchscreens and Boeing’s innovative Sky Interior throughout the cabin.

During this period, flight FZ1793 will depart from Dubai at 10:00 and arrive in Zagreb at 13:15 local time. The return flight FZ1794 will depart from Zagreb at 14:30 and arrive in Dubai at 23:00.

Airlines halt services to Najaf, Iraq over security fears

Royal Jordanian, the national airline of Jordan and the UAE's Flydubai have both suspended flights to the Iraqi city of Najaf due to the security situation at the airport.

Jordan's state airline confirmed it was suspending its four weekly flights to the Iraqi city on Sunday, it is the ninth city in the region it has had to halt to due fighting and turmoil in recent times. Some of the other destinations it has removed from its schedule include Mosul, Aden and Sanaa.

Flydubai has suspended its daily flight to the Najaf city on a temporary basis, initially until at least 22nd July and follows the security issues around the city that caused the airport to close on Friday. Both airlines have said they will continue to monitor the situation.   Najaf is among a number of cities in the south of Iraq that have seen days of protests over poor services and against official corruption. 

flydubai sees profits and revenue increase

The Dubai based low-fare airline flydubai said Wednesday that its earnings and profits have increased, revenue reaching 5.5 billion dirhams ($1.5 billion) in 2017 compared to 5 billion dirhams ($1.37 billion) in 2016.
The profits for airline reached 37.3 million dirhams ($10 million) last year, up from 31.6 million dirhams ($8.6 million) the year before. However, flydubai’s profits are still less than half the 100.7 million dirham-mark ($27.4 million) recorded in 2015.

225 737 Max's for flydubai.....

flydubai has signed a major order for Boeing aircraft today that has amazed the aviation world. The Gulf carrier has ordered 225 737 MAX aeroplanes with a list price of over $27 billion and is one of the largest-ever single-aisle jet orders ever. 

The deal was signed at the 2017 Dubai Airshow and includes a commitment for 175 MAX aircraft with purchase rights for 50 additional MAXs. However, despite the headlines, the deal has yet to be finalised and is still open to some negotiation. 

This new deal surpasses the flydubai's previous record order of 75 MAXs and 11 Next-Generation 737-800s which was signed at the 2013 Dubai Airshow.

Emirates and flydubai Extend Codeshare

Building on the continued success of the first phase of their partnership, Emirates and flydubai announced this week an additional 16 destinations to which Emirates’ passengers will be able travel on a single ticket. The new, expanded network now includes sought-after destinations such as Zanzibar, Kathmandu and Kilimanjaro.

Emirates President, Sir Tim Clark said: “We are thrilled with the positive response from travellers. Nearly 14,000 sectors have been ticketed during the first week of operation, surpassing our expectations. We have witnessed strong demand for travel from Europe and the United States to South Asian destinations." 

"This partnership is an unprecedented opportunity for both airlines to unleash the combined power of their networks, offering travellers greater choice and flexibility when planning their trips. We want to make exploring the world as friendly and as convenient as possible.”

flydubai Chief Executive Officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith said: “The many benefits of Dubai’s international aviation hub have been recognised by travellers who have already shown that they are keen to explore the world together. Today’s announcement will allow them to discover another 16 destinations as well as enjoy the unique personality of each airline.”

New codeshare destinations follow:

Emirates and flydubai partnership announces first codeshare routes

Emirates and flydubai today announced that Emirates will expand its network to 29 flydubai destinations across three continents.

The new partner network, through its codeshare, will offer greater frequency and easier access to more global destinations with the advantage of connecting baggage to the final destination.  Passengers can book from 03 October on Emirates.com, through the Emirates Contact Centres or the travel agents network with travel commencing from 29 October 2017.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group and Chairman of flydubai, said, “This is an exciting first step in unlocking the benefits of the partnership for passengers who will have the opportunity to enjoy the unique advantages each airline offers as well as greater choice and flexibility when connecting via Dubai. This is just the start and as we expand the partner network in the coming months we will open up more opportunities for our passengers to explore the world.”

Read more on this story, including the destinations that the codeshare deal includes. 

"Dubai was Right" says flydubai CEO

Ghaith Al Ghaith hails the vision and courage of the Government of Dubai and developers who continued to invest during the economic crisis

Dubai, UAE, May 01, 2011 - On the eve of the region's biggest tourism industry event, Arabian Travel Market, Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of Dubai's first low cost airline, flydubaiflydubai, has paid tribute to those who continued to develop the tourism infrastructure in Dubai during the worst of the global economic crisis.