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19 March 2024

Flydubai adds two African destinations

Published
By Staff

Dubai-based budget carrier flydubai expanded its reach in Africa by launching flights to Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar in Tanzania on Wednesday. The new routes saw the carrier's network doubling to 12 destinations this year.

Flydubai entered the market in 2009 with flights to Djibouti, and in 2011 Addis Ababa became flydubai's second East African destination. In 2014, flydubai added six new routes to the continent with the start of flights to Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and three destinations in Tanzania.

“The UAE has recognised the immense potential in the emerging markets of East Africa, like Tanzania. We continue to work diligently to support the travel, trade and tourism objectives by strengthening the direct links between the UAE and these African markets,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai.

“The pace of flydubai's expansion in East Africa has picked up. Six of the 23 new routes we have launched this year are to Africa. The potential we see for this market is just the tip of the iceberg as it is still a heavily underserved region. We are very excited about our new flights to Tanzania, which are going to be very popular for our passengers whether for leisure or business,’ added Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President Commercial for GCC, Subcontinent and Africa.

Tanzania has emerged as a noteworthy trade partner for Dubai recently and ranked among the major non-oil trade partners in Africa last year topping $1.86 billion in total annual trade, according to recent figures from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.