Flydubai starts Assiut, Istanbul services

Budget carrier, flydubai is expanding beyond the Middle East with plans to launch flights to Sri Lanka shortly.

According to a report in The Sunday Times in Sri Lanka, flydubai has made an application to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Sri Lanka to launch services to the island country.

"This is currently being reviewed by the regulator, according to informed sources. If approved, it will become the second budget carrier in Colombo after Malaysia's Air Asia," the report stated.

While not denying the news report, a flydubai spokesperson told Emirates Business: "We are in touch with the civil aviation authorities in many different countries on an ongoing basis. As soon as we have any news resulting from those discussions we will make an announcement." He was replying to a question as to how soon flydubai would launch services to the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

The carrier meanwhile, launched two more routes – to Assiut in Egypt and Istanbul, Turkey – bringing the airline's network to 15 destinations. The move comes just two weeks after flydubai launched flights to Muscat and Kuwait. "Our 14th and 15th destinations, Assiut and Istanbul, have just been opened for sale and we plan to announce more destinations this year," he said.

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