Dubai-based flydubai operations to Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram took off on June 1 with four weekly flights to Delhi and three weekly flights to both Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram on June 2 and 3 respectively, bringing the total number of Indian cities served by the carrier to six, including its existing routes Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Lucknow. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the authorities for granting us the approval to operate these flights between Dubai and India. The two nations share a lot of historic and cultural ties and the new flights will increase the trade and tourism potential while enabling the Indian expatriate community in the UAE to travel home to visit friends and family more often.” flydubai has seen strong demand for its flights since the start of its operations to India in 2010. The carrier was set up by the Dubai Government to offer passengers convenient and reliable services and an unrivalled onboard experience and create free flows of trade and tourism in previously underserved markets. Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President Commercial (GCC, Subcontinent, Africa) for flydubai, said: “These new flights will give passengers from different regions in India direct links to Dubai, enhancing flight connectivity beyond the city to GCC countries and to destinations in Africa, Central Asia, Russia and Europe, most of which have no or very few direct links to India.” flydubai will deploy Business Class configured aircraft on all three new routes, giving passengers the option of a more personalized flying experience on the ground and in the air. — SG
