New low-cost carrier FlyDubai launched

The Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, said "FlyDubai is a simple, powerful call to action. It immediately links to our core business of offering no-frills flights to commute people to and from Dubai."

"The name carries a strong association with the city of Dubai, as by itself, it is a brand synonymous with reliability, excellence and international pro-business approach," Sheikh Mohammed said.

The announcement to launch the new airline came in March, but it was made clear that it would be independent of Dubai’s other original official carrier Emirates. However, Emirates will help in the launch of the new airline, as the Chairman of the new airline, Sheikh Ahmed, is also the Chairman of Emirates, while a Senior Executive of Emirates has been appointed the Chief Executive of the new airline.

FlyDubai will initially cover an area of two billion inhabitants, and will support the commercial and tourism sectors in Dubai, by catering to a new group of travelers, offering affordable air-connections to high-demand destinations. To begin with, FlyDubai will focus on regional flights within GCC and neighboring countries, within four-and-half hours from Dubai.

The ground work for the venture has been done, and FlyDubai is on its way to make its first launch during mid-2009.

This new airline is the sixth in the region with low-cost and will compete with Air Arabia, the largest low-cost airline in the Middle East.

Posted on 27/6/2008

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