flydubai's adds Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia to its network

These two new routes, on which operations will commence in December this year, bring the number of destinations the carrier serves in the CEE and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to 26. The airline will then serve a total of 75 destinations within a five-and-a-half-hour flying radius of Dubai.

To support the continuous growth of its network and added frequency on its existing routes, flydubai will take delivery of three new Next-Generation Boeing 737-800s in July, growing its fleet to 39 aircraft. The carrier will receive an additional four aircraft by the end of 2014. 

Commenting on the launch, flydubai’s chief executive officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “We remain focused on opening up underserved markets and strengthening air links from Dubai’s aviation hub to the region. The new flights to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia represent new opportunities for travel, trade and tourism for passengers in both countries and the UAE.” 

flydubai will become the first carrier to operate direct flights from Dubai to Sarajevo and Zagreb. The airline is also the first Dubai-based airline to serve Almaty and Shymkent in Kazakhstan and flights to these routes will commence in September. In addition, Business Class will be available on all four of these routes, providing passengers with additional convenience and comfort as they travel. 

Jeyhun Efendi, senior vice president commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) at flydubai, said: “Kazakhstan is a growing economy with a wealth of investment opportunities and exciting tourist attractions, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia have an abundance of nature and culture to explore. We are pleased to provide a direct air link to these destinations.” 

The airline has the most comprehensive network of all Middle Eastern carriers to the CEE and CIS regions and has built up a network of: nine points in Russia, three points in Ukraine and two points in Kazakhstan in addition to Ashgabat, Baku, Belgrade, Bishkek, Bucharest, Chisinau, Dushanbe, Sarajevo, Skopje, Tbilisi, Yerevan and Zagreb. 

Analyst Saj Ahmad commented: “flydubai's increased market penetration into Eastern Europe leverages the strength of its product and network as well as the inherent demand for travel that has been overlooked by other carriers and it is quite a feat that flydubai continues to blaze a trail and expand where others are reticent to do the same. 

“This innovative and forward-looking airline has used its aggressive expansion to fuel not just its organic growth, but the initiation of new services to cities like Zagreb and Sarajevo underscore the fact that not only is it catering to demand that's there and underserved, it is actually stimulating demand even more by giving customers connectivity that previously never existed.” 

Ahmad added: “And with more 737-800s coming into the fleet, more expansion, flexibility and greater operations economics of scale that hedge against erratic fuel prices protect both flydubai's bottom line yet still make fares attractive to entice both leisure and business class customers - especially as flydubai was the first and arguably still is the only hybrid airline offering a full end-to-end business class package that is usually the reserve of full service carriers. This growth will not just fill the flydubai coffers, it will strengthen their profitability for this financial year too.”