Flydubai celebrates a number of route anniversaries in its Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) network this month, reaffirming its commitment to expansion and connectivity while highlighting its growth in the UAE's aviation market. Three years since launching operations to Baku, Azerbaijan on Nov. 22, 2009, Dubai's innovative airline has established flights to 16 destinations across 11 countries in the CEE and CIS region. It also has the most comprehensive network of all Middle Eastern carriers to this area and is the only scheduled operator flying direct to Dubai from Belgrade, Skopje, Bishkek, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Tbilisi. Key to the airline's growth has been its strategic approach to drive expansion. Through adding new aircraft and destinations each year, flydubai has opened up previously under-served markets, bringing affordable travel to more people, more often. New figures that highlight its remarkable regional development include: flydubai's CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “More than 40 percent of our route development this year has taken place in CEE and the CIS. The geographical prioritization of these markets has been key to flydubai's continued growth and highlights our commitment to offering real choice and excellent quality service for passengers while boosting tourism and trade between our regions. flydubai has also been instrumental in increasing air traffic between the UAE and Russia by 85 percent; and the UAE and Ukraine by 112 percent.” Passenger traffic from the CIS and Russia climbed 54.4 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2011, in large part due to flydubai's on-going expansion in this region. Developments in the past 12 months include launching a twice-weekly service to the Russian cities of Kazan and Ufa late last year, along with starting the first ever direct service to Kharkiv, Ukraine from Dubai in addition to Kiev and Donetsk. flydubai continues to increase its frequency to the region with adding a fourth weekly flight to Yerevan Nov. 29, 2012. — SGOffering 58 regular flights per week, flydubai's CEE and CIS network includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine providing an array of destinations appealing to the leisure, business travellers and those visiting friends and family. Elsewhere, flydubai recently announced that flights to Malé, the capital the Maldives will begin in 19 January 2013. The latest addition to flydubai's expanding network has proven particularly popular among travelers from Russia and CIS with figures revealing a 15.7 percent increase in tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2011. In parallel to its expansion plans, flydubai has also grown its fleet to 27 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft to cater to increasing demand from the business and leisure passengers across its route map. With the January 2012 launch of flydubai Cargo, the carrier has also established an affordable and reliable freight network. — SG
