With the touching down of Flydubai's FZ875 aircraft at Taif Regional Airport on Feb. 1, the budget airline began Wednesday its operations to its seventh destination, Taif in the Makkah Province with three flights a week. The inaugural flight, FZ875, departed Dubai Terminal 2 at 1925hrs, landing at Taif Regional Airport at 2130hrs local time. The return flight, FZ876, departed at 2230hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0220hrs Thursday morning. Flydubai launched services to the Kingdom in November 2010, and now serves Riyadh, Jeddah, Yanbu, Gassim, Abha and Dammam in addition to Taif with a total of 55 weekly flights across the country. Flydubai's CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “The UAE has boosted its commercial links with Saudi Arabia over the past year and the Kingdom is currently the UAE's top non-oil trading partner. By covering the country's main commercial and leisure hubs, flydubai is supporting these relationships through offering regular travel between the two nations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Saudi authorities for their support and assistance in making these flights possible.” Taif is the Kingdom's number one summer destination. Every year, the Saudi Government relocates to the temperate climates of Taif from the heat in Riyadh. Thanks to its location less than 100km from Makkah, it offers an alternative entry point for people performing Hajj and Umra. Flydubai's network now spans more than 45 destinations in 27 countries across the GCC, Middle East, Africa, Indian Sub-Continent, Asia and the fringes of Europe.
