Flydubai celebrates 10 years of service

In celebration of its 10th Anniversary, a special flight took off from Dubai International on 01 June 2019 at 12:20 local time and was met with a celebratory water cannon salute upon arrival in Beirut. On board were passengers who had flown on flydubai’s first flight who reminisced about the inaugural flight and which paved the way for a new way of travel from Dubai to the region.

Commenting on the 10th year anniversary of the start of flydubai’s operations, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of flydubai, said: “For many years the Government of Dubai recognised the need for another carrier to serve our country. In 2009, we were able to achieve this thanks to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.”

“flydubai was launched with a mandate to open new markets and make travel more accessible to more people. I am happy to see flydubai deliver on that commitment which has seen the airline connect 71 previously underserved cities to Dubai allowing a population of 1.5 billion easier access to one of the world’s leading aviation hubs.”

Celebrating flydubai’s 10th anniversary, I am pleased to see the airline become another Dubai success story and look forward to their continued success in the years to come. I would like to thank all those who have worked tremendously hard to enable the airline to deliver this wonderful team effort,” added  Sheikh Ahmed.

HE Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, said: “the UAE is leading on the global air transport front and  the aviation sector has been a major contributor to the overall national economy. The sector has successfully enabled the creation of an attractive environment for trade, investment and tourism to flourish.” 

“The success of the national carriers has contributed significantly to further cementing the UAE's prominent position on the global aviation scene. flydubai, which celebrates its tenth anniversary, is one of the important components in the aviation sector and was able to break through the competition as an affordable travel provider. flydubai continues to play a pivotal role in strengthening the UAE's ties with several important markets, thus enhancing the trade and tourism potential in the region and supporting the growth of the economy,” added Al Mansouri.

Reflecting on the last 10 years and looking to the years ahead, Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer of flydubai, said: flydubai’s commitment to making travel more convenient and more affordable has only grown stronger over the past 10 years. We realised early on that travel is about bridging the distance between people and we will continue to change the way people travel around the region. We are pleased to see that more than 70 million passengers chose to flydubai since the start of our operations.”

“It is the vision of our leadership and the continued investment in the country’s infrastructure that has enabled the airline to grow the demand for travel.  We have remained agile, committed to efficiency and delivered reliable services keeping our customers at the heart of our operations. This would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of all our employees. I thank them and our passengers for being part of our journey and look forward to many more years to come as we mark our 10th anniversary celebrating bringing people together,” added Al Ghaith.