RIYADH: The UAE-based flydubai airline recorded a historic increase in its seasonal operations by carrying over 4 million passengers between June and mid-September 2023, up 30 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
According to a statement by the company, the carrier operated over 32,000 flights across 120 destinations in 52 countries, with Corfu in Greece and Olbia in Sardinia as the latest two additions to the airline’s summer routes.
flydubai CEO Ghaith Al-Ghaith said they continue to create free trade and tourism flows by offering the right product at the right time, making travel accessible to new and previously underserved markets.
“By doing so, we have enabled more than 4 million passengers to travel this summer via Dubai’s aviation hub,” Al-Ghaith added.
He further said that they are very pleased to see year-on-year growth in demand on their seasonal destinations, adding that they have recorded a 70 percent increase in passenger numbers to Trabzon and more than 40 percent to Bodrum this summer.
“We believe these figures could have potentially been even higher if the aircraft we ordered had been delivered on schedule. This would have enabled us to add more capacity on some of these popular routes,” Al-Ghaith explained.
He further said that the delay in delivery is a “big problem” that they have been suffering from since last year.
“There was a disruption after the outbreak of coronavirus, and many were unable to return to the pre-pandemic levels. We, in the UAE, returned with even higher operational rates. There is, of course, a negative impact on the productivity of aviation companies and their supporting corporations. From the summer all through the year’s end, we were supposed to get the delivery of nine aircraft. If we receive four of these, we will be lucky,” Al-Ghaith said.
Some two weeks ago, flydubai, which currently operates a fleet of 78 aircraft, announced the launch of daily flights to Cairo’s Sphinx International Airport, beginning Oct. 28.
In a statement, the company said: “With the launch of daily flights to Cairo, the carrier will serve the Egyptian market with a total of 17 weekly flights, including the daily operations to Alexandria Borg El Arab International Airport, adding that its network in Africa has grown to 12 destinations with the latest addition of Cairo as well as Mombasa to its expanding network.”
