More than 100,000 football fans travelled conveniently on flydubai’s special Match Day Shuttle flights since 21 November 2022

Dubai-based flydubai announced today that it has proudly enabled more than 100,000 football fans to travel conveniently to take part in the biggest football tournament hosted in Qatar. The carrier has operated 900 flights between Dubai World Central (DWC) and Doha International Airport (DIA) since 21 November, the majority of which operated at near full capacity at peak travel periods of the day. The Match Day Shuttle flights will operate until 19 December 2022.

As part of its partnership with Qatar Airways to support the flow of football fans from the region to Doha for the duration of the World Cup, flydubai has been operating up to 30 daily Match Day Shuttle flights providing passengers with a seamless and enjoyable travel experience.

Seven of flydubai’s Boeing 737 aircraft are currently positioned at DWC to operate the Match Day Shuttle schedule. At peak travel periods during the day, an aircraft departed every 30 minutes. Throughout the rest of the day, an aircraft took off on average every 50 minutes. This provided customers with ample options for travel to Doha to cheer on their favourite team and return to Dubai.

Two of flydubai’s aircraft operating out of DWC feature a special football-themed livery as part of its regional partnership with the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The new design features members of the Argentine national football team including Angel Di Maria, Julian Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez, Leandro Paredes, Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul.

Commenting on the Match Day Shuttle flights, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “it has been a very exciting couple of weeks for everyone involved in delivering the Match Day Shuttle flights, whether they are football fans or not. The celebratory atmosphere at DWC, the joy of the fans and the ease of how their journey from Dubai to Doha commences is proof of how well everyone has come together to make this a reality. A special thanks to Dubai Airports, dnata, Dubai Police, Dubai Immigration, the authorities and our partner Qatar Airways for all their support.”

“Having automated many of the processes required for travel, including Hayya card approvals, meant that passengers who have completed their travel requirements and online check-in could pass through the terminal in 10 to 12 minutes. ​ This includes the journey from the car park to the boarding gates, which is truly remarkable”, added Al Ghaith.

More than 70% of passengers travelling on the Match Day Shuttle flights had completed online check-in and received their online boarding passes prior to arrival at DWC, enabling them to directly proceed to immigration in record time to start their journeys.

flydubai gears up to another busy travel period where more than 25,000 football fans are expected to travel to watch the final matches in Doha. The airline will also add capacity to cater to the demand for travel for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third place play off and the final match of the tournament. The last Match Day Shuttle service flight FZ 5274 is scheduled to depart from DIA to DWC on 12:40 on 19 December.