Azernews.Az

flydubai, Dubai's innovative low-cost airline, has announced remarkable growth figures ahead of its inaugural flight celebrations to Malé, the capital of Maldives, the airline said on Monday, Trend news agency reported.

Anita Mehra, Vice President - Marketing & Corporate Communications, Dubai Airports said that flydubai's growth, particularly within Russia and the CIS, has provided a tremendous boost to passenger traffic through linking Dubai to many cities in this region for the first time. "The airline has played a key part in ensuring that passenger traffic at Dubai International is likely to have surpassed the projected target of 56.5 million passengers for the year as the world's fourth busiest hub for international passengers achieved another month of double digit growth last November," she said.

"Commencing today, the new Malé route will attract passengers from across the flydubai network, in particular those from the CIS, CEE and GCC. Dubai's geographic advantages as a gateway between east and west, its established reputation as a popular year-round tourist destination, a financial centre and logistics hub, makes affordable travel across the airline's route network accessible," flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said.

More than 40% of flydubai's route development in 2012 concentrated on CEE and CIS cementing the airline's commitment to expansion and connectivity. The airline now operates to 16 destinations in the region including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkmenistan and Ukraine.

flydubai's GCC network is also the largest of all Middle Eastern carriers, with 265 flights per week to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Now the second-largest airline operating out of Dubai International Airport, flydubai's impressive year-on-year growth figures have been driven by its rapidly expanding network and fleet. New figures highlighting its remarkable development include:
• 285% growth in passenger numbers from the CIS and CEE markets in 2012 compared to 2011, plus a 114% increase in the number of flights over the same period.
• 65% growth in passenger numbers from the GCC in 2012 compared to 2011, and a 36% growth in the number of flights over the same period.

flydubai operates a growing fleet of 28 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, to cater to increasing demand from both the business and leisure passengers across its route map.

Established in March 2008, flydubai is Dubai's first low-cost airline and the fastest growing start-up airline in the world. Since commencing operations in June 2009, the airline has established an operational route network of more than 50 destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Asia and Central & Eastern Europe and has built up fleet of 28 aircraft. Owned by the Government of Dubai, the low-cost carrier supports the city's commercial and tourism sectors by serving all travellers and providing them with affordable air links to a range of destinations.