Summary
- flydubai launches 7 new seasonal island destinations for this summer.
- The expansion includes islands in popular destinations like Greece, Maldives, Malaysia, Tanzania, and Italy.
- flydubai plans further growth with new Boeing 787 Dreamliners and a premium economy cabin.
Dubai-based flydubai announced last week the launch of seven new island destinations for the summer, with a strong focus on leisure travelers. These new destinations will cover seven islands from five different countries. The carrier is also offering special holiday packages from June 14th to July 15th.
The seven islands
Starting last week, flydubai has launched services to seven new island destinations across Europe, Asia and Africa. These services are seasonal and, hence, for the time being, only run during the Northern Hemisphere summer season.
The new routes will be operated by the carrier’s fleet of Boeing 737-MAX aircraft, featuring lie-flat business class seats to provide maximum comfort for travelers this summer. The seven new destinations are as follows-
|
No. |
Airport |
Destination |
Country |
Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
CFU |
Corfu |
Greece |
2 weekly flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays |
|
2 |
JMK |
Mykonos |
4 weekly flights on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays |
|
|
3 |
JTR |
Santorini |
1 weekly flight on Sundays. Route launching on June 23rd. |
|
|
4 |
LGK |
Langkawi |
Malaysia |
Daily flights. |
|
5 |
MLE |
Male |
Maldives |
3 daily flights. |
|
6 |
OLB |
Olbia |
Italy |
2 weekly flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays. |
|
7 |
ZNZ |
Zanzibar |
Tanzania |
3 daily flights. One service continues onwards to Dar-es-Salaam (DAR) |
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
With a mix of new services and increased frequencies, flydubai will be able to offer improved connectivity to popular summer destinations, with the ability to capture the massive number of tourists transiting via Dubai International Airport (DXB) while also receiving connecting passengers from its sister airline – Emirates.
Rapid growth
Flydubai has recently been expanding its operations and network significantly. In the first half of 2024, the carrier launched flights to destinations such as Mombasa – Kenya, Penang – Malaysia, Basel – Switzerland, and three Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
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Apart from expanding its route network, the carrier has also been expanding its fleet size. Going forward, flydubai will also be receiving 30 Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which were ordered during the 2023 Dubai Airshow. With the arrival of the new MAX and Dreamliner aircraft, the carrier will be able to fly further and carry more passengers.
Photo: flydubai
Once the carrier receives its 787s, flydubai is also considering destinations in cities such as London, Thailand, and Australia. Furthermore, the carrier is set to introduce a premium economy cabin in the future, which will bring its cabin experience in line with that of its sister airline, Emirates.
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Popular destination – Greece
Three of flydubai’s new services are Greek destinations, and they will be available in addition to the existing services between Dubai and the Greek capital – Athens. Athens International Airport (ATH) to DXB route is served twice daily by Emirates and once daily by Aegean.
Considering that Emirates, nearly two years ago, entered into a codeshare partnership with Aegean and plays an important role in boosting tourism in Greece, the expansion of flydubai into further destinations within the country is only natural.
In fact, Emirates had previously been invited by Greece’s Tourism Minister to launch flights to New York via Thessaloniki in Northern Greece, complimenting Emirates’ existing service to Newark via Athens.
Photo: Emirates
While Emirates has not taken up the offer just yet, it might be considered once Emirates starts receiving its Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s, which would allow the carrier to operate this route more efficiently.
Will you be traveling with flydubai this summer? Let us know in the comments below.
