BUSINESS

Azrabijan, Georgia favorite spots for Saudis choosing flydubai

May 03, 2018

Fatima Muhammad



Saudi Gazette

OVER 2 million passengers have traveled using flydubai between Saudi Arabia and Dubai in 2017 — an increase of 3.4 percent compared to 2016. There are about 10 new destinations from Saudi Arabia, which makes flydubai accountable for 25 percent of the overall passenger flow between Saudi Arabia and Dubai — a growth of about 53 percent since 2014 said a top official at the company.

Among the preferred tourism destinations of the Saudis choosing flydubai is Georgia, Azerbaijan. flydubai also links passengers heading to Saudi Arabia from Karachi, Kabul, Multan, Faisalabad and Kathmandu.

Answering a Saudi Gazette question at a press conference held at the recent Arab Tourism Market, Hamad Obaidallah, chief commercial officer of flydubai, stated, “The Saudi market is one of the important markets for flydubai. We are keen to provide our quality services and products to those traveling from Saudi Arabia to Dubai and from there to different destinations.”

Dubai airport figures, he added, show that Saudi Arabia comes third in terms of passengers passing through the airport as some 6.36 million passengers have passed the airport coming from Saudi Arabia in 2017. The commercial exchange between Saudi Arabia and UAE, he elaborated, adds up to Dh71.6 billion in 2016 with the two countries leading the Arab region economically.

Speaking about their partnership with Emirates, which started last year, he said it has provided different services to passengers including linking flights and offering opportunities to travel to 200 different destinations. This step, he said, will allow flydubai to work under its own independent management but will provide more chance for growth.

He added that some 650,000 passengers have already benefited from this cooperation between the two companies since the start of the agreement last October 2017 and until March 2018.

In 2017 flydubai added to their fleet 8 new aircrafts 2 of which are Boeing 737-800 while 6 are Boeing 737 MAX 8. During 2018 they expect to receive 7 new Boeing 737 Max 8 added Obaidallah. In total Flydubai has 61 aircrafts 55 of which are Boeing 737-800 and 6 are Boeing 737 MAX 8.

He also highlighted that flydubai Holiday Division offers travel packages for destinations in high demand among GCC travelers. The packages offered include hotel booking and transportation. Official data show that GCC constitute 30% of hotel bookings in Dubai.

In this line, Obaidallah noted, that they have 12 flights daily from and to Kuwait, 6 from Bahrain and 5 from Oman. flydubai’s contribution constitute 29 percent of the transport among the GCC region he added.

flydubai has a total of 95 destinations in 48 countries. They go to 11 detonations in Russia, 27 in Europe, 14 in Africa 11 in Central Asia and Caucasus, 8 in India, and 5 in Pakistan. Asked about the new destinations Obaidallah said, “They have 11 new destinations to be added to the list among which are Kinshasa of Congo, Dubrovnik of Croatia, Krakow of Poland, Thessaloniki of Greece, Aqaba of Jordon, Kutaisi of Georgia and Helsinki of Finland.”

flydubai has carried 10.9 million passengers in 2017 making the total of passengers carried since its start in 2009 aver 50 million passengers. In 2017 the company’s revenues reached Dh5.5 billion with an increase by 9.2 percent compared to 2016.

The aviation sector contributes by 20 percent to Dubai GDP and the percentage is expected to reach 37 percent in 2020.


May 03, 2018
336 views
HIGHLIGHTS
BUSINESS
2 hours ago

Jeeny Launches the Month of Goodwill’s CSS Initiative

BUSINESS
13 hours ago

Infinix Note 40 Pro 5G - The gaming powerhouse at a JAW dropping price of SR999

BUSINESS
17 hours ago

Xiaomi: Chinese smartphone giant taking on Tesla