Tag Archives: Ghaith Al Ghaith

flydubai inaugurated its new service from Dubai to Tashkent becoming the first carrier based in the UAE to offer direct flights to Uzbekistan.  The inaugural flight departed on March 11 from Terminal 3, Dubai International (DXB) and was welcomed on arrival at Tashkent International Airport (TAS). On board the inaugural flight was a senior delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) led by H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy in the UAE. The trade delegation included the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, other business entities and members of the UAE media.  On arrival at Tashkent, the delegation was received by Shuhrat Vafaev, Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan and Mohammed Al Mehairbi, H.E. Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the UAE to Uzbekistan. H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, emphasized on the importance of this step, further pointing out that the country maintains a leading position in the global air transport map and serves as an important centre for enhancing global connectivity through its sophisticated international airports and air carriers with world-class reputation and a wide network of destinations. Commenting on the occasion, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said, “Uzbekistan is an important trade partner for the UAE and the start of flights to Tashkent represents a significant milestone in helping to strengthen commercial ties between us.  We are pleased to be the first UAE carrier to launch direct flights between Dubai and Tashkent, opening up another underserved market in Central Asia and supporting Dubai’s vision of creating flows of travel and trade.”

flydubai is set to start flights to Tashkent from March 11, 2019. The five-times weekly service between Dubai and Tashkent will become a daily operation from May 31, 2019. Business Class return fares from Dubai to Tashkent start at AED 7,500 (USD 1,785) and are inclusive of all taxes with 40 kg checked baggage, meals and in-flight entertainment. Economy Class return fares from Dubai to Tashkent start at AED 1,545 (USD 420) including 20 kg checked baggage and a meal. The carrier will operate the new route with one of its brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft from Terminal 3 of Dubai International (DXB). The new cabin features a flat-bed in Business Class and in addition to the extra space and privacy, passengers can sleep comfortably during their flight. Economy Class offers new RECARO seats designed to optimise space and comfort so that passengers can sit back, relax and enjoy their flight. Commenting on the launch of flights to Tashkent, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said, “we are pleased to become the first UAE national carrier to offer direct flights to Tashkent, strengthening ties between the UAE and Uzbekistan via these new direct air links. This creates opportunities for further development of tourism and trade flows and is in line with our commitment to opening up previously underserved markets and offering more travel options to fly to Dubai and beyond.” Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President—Commercial Operations and E-commerce, flydubai, said, “We hope the new route will be a popular choice for passengers travelling from Dubai and the GCC looking for new hidden gems within a short flying distance from our hub in Dubai.”

flydubai has announced the launch of direct flights to Kozhikode in Kerala, India. The three-times weekly service from Dubai International (DXB) to Kozhikode Calicut International Airport (CCJ) will start from February 1, 2019. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, commenting on the new announcement, said, “We have always been proud of the strong ties between India and the UAE. We have seen a stronger flow of trade and tourism between the two countries over the past few years. In 2017, India became the first source market to top 2 million annual visitors representing an impressive 15 per cent year-on-year increase in total number of visitors to Dubai. We are grateful for the support we have received from the Indian authorities and we remain committed to serving the market. We look forward to more opportunities to strengthen the airlinks between the two countries in the future.” Commenting on the announcement, Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President, Commercial (UAE, GCC, Subcontinent and Africa), flydubai, said, “We are pleased to add Kozhikode to our network of eight destinations in India, offering greater connectivity and an unrivalled travel experience to our passengers in India. The new route will provide more passengers from India with access to Dubai and beyond via its aviation hub together with the new codeshare agreement.”

flydubai will operate up to five direct flights a week to Naples and Budapest in Europe from June 4 and June 27, 2019, respectively. Emirates will codeshare on both routes strengthing the partnership between the two airlines, which aims to provide more options for travelling to passengers. Both routes will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB). To offer passengers more comfort and an enhanced travel experience, flydubai will operate the new routes on the brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8. The new cabin offering features a flat-bed in Business Class, while the Economy Class offers new RECARO seats, which are designed to optimise space and comfort. flydubai also offers exceptional inflight entertainment with a full HD, 11.6-inch screen, featuring a wide selection of movies, TV shows, music and games in English, Arabic and Russian. Commenting on the launch, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said, “We are delighted to be launching flights to Budapest and Naples. These destinations provide our passengers with more choice on our network while reaffirming our commitment to the vision to create free flows of tourism and strengthen direct airlinks with the UAE.” Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and e-commerce, flydubai, said, “Budapest and Naples are important centres for commerce, trade and industry and are incredibly popular leisure destinations, especially during summer. Making these destinations more accessible to travellers looking for new places to explore will undoubtedly stimulate traffic flows and tourism.”

flydubai will operate flights to three points in Kazakhstan following the relaunch of its Shymkent service. The twice-a-week service will be offered from December 28, 2018. flydubai has been flying to Kazakhstan since 2014 and together with the re-launched service to Shymkent and existing flights to Almaty and Astana, the airline 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, 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.” With flydubai, Business Class passengers can enjoy comfortable spacious seats and a variety of dining options onboard, as well as a priority check-in service and lounge access. flydubai offers its Economy Class passengers numerous features onboard including comfortable seating, a range of tasty snacks to purchase during flights and an award-winning in-flight entertainment system with more than 1,000 hours of films, television, music and an extensive range of Arabic, English and Russian content. The airline’s latest offering includes WiFi connectivity and Live TV on selected flights.

Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will be the latest addition to flydubai’s network from April 15. The daily flights will operate with an enroute stop in nearby Entebbe and will also be available for booking through the Emirates codeshare agreement. flydubai becomes the first UAE carrier to operate flights to Kinshasa International Airport and provide links from the UAE and the region to a new gateway in Central Africa. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said, “Africa is fast emerging as one of the most important markets for the United Arab Emirates. With the proximity to the continent and rising demand to more direct links to Africa, we see this new service to Kinshasa playing an instrumental role in further supporting the growing trade and tourism flows in the coming years.” Passengers travelling to and from Kinshasa will have the option of a Business Class experience, benefitting from priority check-in service, spacious seats and a range of dining options. Passengers travelling in Economy Class will have access to comfortable seating and a convenient way to travel.

Ahead of the new year, flydubai launched two new routes to Europe. Flights to Krakow will start on April 8, 2018 and flights to Catania will begin on June 13, 2018. flydubai becomes the first UAE carrier to operate direct flights to these destinations, offering weekly flights. With the launch of these new European routes, the airline’s network grows to over 100 destinations in 47 countries. Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO, flydubai, said, “With the launch of flights to Krakow and Catania, flydubai is committed to open up new direct air links to Dubai. Our latest route launches are testament to that commitment which demonstrate our efforts in offering our passengers more options to explore our network.” Emirates will codeshare on both routes and as part of the Emirates-flydubai partnership, each airline’s passengers will have the opportunity to connect in Dubai to hundreds of destinations across the world. To offer passengers more comfort and an enhanced travel experience, the carrier will operate the new routes on its brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 unveiled at the Dubai Airshow in November.

flydubai launched two new seasonal destinations for next year- Dubrovnik, Croatia and Kutaisi, Georgia; the latest additions to the airline’s European network for the 2018 summer period. Flights to the Croatian coastal city will operate up to four times a week from April 10 until October 25, 2018. Along with Tbilisi and Batumi, Kutaisi will become flydubai’s third point in Georgia and will be served with three weekly flights between June 14 and September 22, 2018. “For the first time this year, we offered our passengers direct flights to popular summer destinations and based on the success of these routes, we decided to increase the options for next year,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO, flydubai. Flights to Batumi, Georgia will resume from June 16 until September 30 next year with a daily flight, an increase from the three-weekly service operated last summer. Tivat on the other hand, will resume with up to three weekly flights from March 26 until October 26, replacing the existing service to Podgorica currently operating during the winter schedule.

The partnership between Emirates and flydubai announced 16 additional destinations to which Emirates’ passengers can travel on a single ticket. The new, expanded network includes destinations such as Zanzibar, Kathmandu and Kilimanjaro. Travellers can book on Emirates.com, through Emirates’ contact centres or via travel agents, commencing from November 8. Emirates President 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. We have witnessed strong demand for travel from Europe and the United States to South Asian destinations.” The new codeshare destinations include Bratislava (Slovakia), Chittagong (Bangladesh), Djibouti, (Djibouti), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Hargeisa (Somalia), Istanbul – Sabiha Gokcen (Turkey), Kathmandu (Nepal), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Mattala Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Makhachkala (Russia), Podgorica (Montenegro), Sylhet (Bangladesh), Ufa (Russia), Voronezh (Russia), Yerevan (Armenia) and Zanzibar (Tanzania). Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said, “Today’s announcement will allow keen travellers to discover another 16 destinations as well as enjoy the unique personality of each airline.”

With its recent announcement of strengthening more flights to Russia from November 29, flydubai will further increase their network to Sheremetyevo. This will increase the airline’s frequency to the Russian capital to double daily with the existing service to Vnukovo International Airport. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said “We are excited to offer our passengers more options to access two different points of the Russian capital. The launch of our new daily flights to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport is based on the increase in demand for more affordable and reliable direct links to the UAE and beyond.” Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) for flydubai said “Russia continues to be a very important market for flydubai. Our commitment is demonstrated by the increase of our operations to 11 points and 47 weekly flights to the Russian market. We are also looking forward to increasing our frequency to 52 weekly flights from mid-December to provide our passengers with more convenient options for travel to and from Dubai.”