Dubai based flydubai only began its first route on 1st June 2009, but in its first year of operation the carrier transported more than 750,000 passengers across a network of 16 destinations. Since then, additional new routes have been introduced to Lucknow (India), Istanbul (Turkey), Latakia (Syria), Karachi (Pakistan), Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Erbil (Iraq). In the next 2 weeks, the 23rd and 24th destinations will be added to Ekaterinburg and Samara (both in Russia). The Ekaterinburg service will be flydubai’s longest, clocking in at a daunting 5 and a quarter hours.
This week, flydubai revealed that Yerevan in Armenia (from 21st November), and Sulaimaniyah in Iraq (from 24th November) would become the 25th and 26th routes in flydubai’s network from next month. At the beginning of October, flydubai accounted for 5% of seat capacity at Dubai airport.
flydubai’s CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said:
“Our two new destinations are both to incredibly important markets for flydubai. Sulaimaniyah is our second route in Iraqi Kurdistan, following on from the start of flights to Erbil in August. The service to the Armenian capital Yerevan is a totally new market for us, but similarly, a very important one. As a city Yerevan has a long history, being inhabited from the 8th century BC, meaning there is thousands of years of history to be explored and discovered, while the modern city has much to offer too,” he added. “The service to Sulaimaniyah underlines flydubai’s commitment and confidence in the country of Iraq, which has attracted a lot of investment from the UAE, helping grow trade links and cement ties between the two nations.”