Flydubai has announced that it will begin its Indian operations with flightsto the north eastern city of Lucknowon July 13. This will be closely followed by Coimbatore in the south on July 14. The trioof destinations will be completed on July 23 when flights to the north westerncity of Chandigarhbegin.
Ghaith Al Ghaith,CEO of flydubai said: “We are delighted to be able to announce ourthree Indian destinations today. Indiais a very important market and we are looking forward to a long and successfulfuture, serving the needs of customers wishing to travel between Indiaand the UAE.
“A lot of work has gone into making this announcementpossible and I would like to thank the Indian authorities for all theirassistance. There is a huge Indian expatriate population living in the UAE andan even larger number of people keen to travel to the region for both businessand pleasure. flydubai is committed to making travel between Lucknow,Coimbatore, Chandigarh and the UAE a little less complex,a little less stressful and a little less expensive. We are confident this willhelp to encourage more people to travel to these destinations more often.”
“The advent of more accessible, direct, low cost faresto the UAE will also provide an additional option for Indian residents lookingto travel to the UAE for both business and leisure. Currently in the UAE lowcost airlines account for between 2-5% of all air travel. In other parts of theworld, such as Europe and America,low cost airlines are chosen more than 20% of the time. Clearly there is hugepotential for the development of low cost travel in our region, a region very dependenton air travel, and our aim is to stimulate the growth of this market ratherthan to take business away from existing carriers.”
“We believe there is so much demand for low costtravel between Indiaand the UAE that there will be sufficient customers for all the carriers.”
FZ450 will depart for Dubaifrom Lucknow onJuly 14 and will operate four times per week. Prices will start from Rs 4,700,including all taxes and one piece of hand baggage weighing up to 10kg.
The thrice-weekly Coimbatoreservice, FZ414, will take off for Dubaion July 15. Prices from Coimbatorealso start from Rs 4,700.
FZ432 will become the first international flight todepart from Chandigarhairport when it takes off on July 23. Prices from Chandigarh start from Rs 3,700.
Bookings can be made from today on www.flydubai.com, or by callingthe flydubai callcentre on 1 860 266 3366. Bookings can also be made through our travel partners.
The flydubai model is simple, with customers payingonly for the services they want to receive. The ticket price includes all taxesand one piece of hand baggage, weighing up to 10kg, per passenger.
Passengers have the option to purchase checked-inbaggage in advance at just Rs500 for the first piece, weighing up to 32kgs,subject to availability. Checked baggage is strictly subject to availabilityand passengers are advised to book online early to secure the space, as onlypre-purchased baggage can be guaranteed.
Just Rs650 secures the extra legroom positions andfood and drink can be purchased on board. Bookings can be changed for a smallfee, plus any difference in the fare.
flydubaiwas started by the Government of Dubai inMarch 2008 and operates from a modernised and enhanced Terminal 2 on the northside of Dubai International Airport.
The airline made an historic order of 50 737-800aircraft from Boeing at the Farnborough Air Show in July last year. The firstof these aircraft was unveiled in Dubai,UAE, on May 18 and started flying on June 1. flydubai has been successfullyoperating commercial flights since that time and currently flies to Beirut in Lebanon,Amman in Jordan,Damascus in Syriaand Alexandria in Egypt. On June 18 flydubaiannounced Aleppo in Syria as its fifth destination.