Flydubai completes first round of routes

Dubai's low-cost carrier, flydubai, has completed its first round of operational routes after landing in Alexandria, Egypt, on Tuesday.

The airline said yesterday the landing at Alexandria means that flydubai has accomplished its first round of new routes, which includes Beirut, Amman and Damascus, in just eight days.

"The Egyptian expatriates who work in the UAE now have the opportunity to travel home more often and the people of Dubai also have more access to the cultural and historical treasures of Egypt," Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said in a statement.

Flydubai, which placed an order for 50 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft at the Farnborough Airshow last year, in a deal worth about $4 billion (Dh14.7bn), will announce more routes "shortly", it said in a statement.

The carrier expects to have six aircraft with plans to cover 16 routes by the end of 2009, with the aim of serving about 70 destinations by 2014.

Meanwhile, flydubai achieved 100 per cent load factors on each of its first two flights – to Beirut and Amman – Ghaith recently told Emirates Business.

He also said the airline's average occupancy levels would rest at about 70 per cent in the first year.

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