flydubai takes off to third Syrian destination
flydubai notched up its second inaugural flight in four days
Sunday, June 20, 2010 — flydubai, Dubai’s first low cost airline, notched up its second inaugural flight in four days this morning when the airline’s service to the Syrian city of Latakia took off from Terminal 2.
The airline’s 19th destination makes Syria the second country, after Egypt, to welcome flydubai to three separate cities and comes hot on the heels of the airline’s announcement that traffic between Damascus and Dubai has grown by 39% since flydubai launched flights to the Syrian capital last summer.
flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said: “We’re very pleased to be able to provide another flight to Syria and we are confident that the vibrant port of Latakia will be another successful route for flydubai. There are close ties between the United Arab Emirates and Syria, with a large population of Syrian expatriates living in the UAE non-oil trade between the two countries reaching US$322 million in 2009.”
The burgeoning Syrian real estate market also attracted extensive interest from investors in the UAE, recording a growth rate of 8.8% last year.
Flight FZ247 to the Mediterranean port city took off from Dubai at 1130hrs and touched down in Latakia at 1400hrs local time. The return flight FZ248 departed Latakia at 1500hrs, and arrived back in Dubai at 1930hrs local time.
Flights to Latakia operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with prices starting from AED350 including taxes and one piece of hand luggage. Flights can be purchased on flydubai’s website (flydubai.com), through the call centre and with travel partners.
flydubai has a simple model where customers only pay for services they want to receive. The price of the flight includes all taxes and one piece of hand baggage weighing up to 10kg, per passenger.
Passengers have the option to purchase checked-in baggage in advance at just AED60 for the first piece and AED150 for the second, weighing up to 32kgs.
flydubai operates from a modernised and enhanced Terminal 2 on the north side of Dubai International Airport.
