flydubai scores a hat trick in KSA

Dubai – UAE, January 19, 2011 – flydubai, Dubai’s first low cost airline, operated its second inaugural flight in two days yesterday when flight FZ857 landed in the Saudi Arabian city of Gassim.

Gassim is flydubai’s 31st operational destination and third route in KSA, following the start of services to Abha and Yanbu. The inaugural flight landed less than 24 hours after flydubai’s first flight to Bangladesh touched down in Chittagong, making it a busy week for the airline.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, flydubai CEO, said: “Saudi Arabia is a key market, and for flydubai to be able to offer direct, low cost flights to three separate cities in the Kingdom is a significant development for the airline and for passengers wishing to travel to the region.

“The UAE and Saudi Arabia enjoy close cultural, economic and political ties and flydubai is very thankful for the opportunity to serve these important cities and to contribute to the strengthening of those ties between our nations.”

Gassim, located in central Saudi Arabia, is known in the Kingdom as an agricultural centre, producing many types of fruit and vegetables, but it is most famous for its export of dates. The province celebrates with a date season each year, hailing the importance of the fruit that is harvested from more than 2.5 million date palms.

The region also hosts the largest camel market in the world, and the iconic Saudi Arabian desert landscape near Gassim is ideal for those with a passion for offroad driving and motor racing.

Flights from Dubai to Gassim operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Flight FZ857 departs from Dubai at 1305hrs, arriving in Gassim at 1435hrs local time. The return flight FZ858 takes off for Dubai Terminal 2 at 1520hrs, landing in Dubai at 1840hrs UAE time. Flights to Gassim begin at AED 450 per person, including one piece of hand luggage weighing up to 7kg plus one small laptop bag or hand bag. Flights from Gassim to Dubai start at SAR 475, including one piece of hand luggage weighing up to 7kg plus one small laptop bag or hand bag.

Flights are available for purchase on the website (www.flydubai.com), call centre +9714 3010800 and through 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 luggage weighing up to 7kg plus one small laptop bag or hand bag per passenger.

flydubai operates from a modernised and enhanced Terminal 2 on the north side of Dubai International Airport.

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About flydubai:
Established in March 2008, flydubai, Dubai’s first low cost airline, started operations on June 1st, 2009. Set up by the government of Dubai, flydubai is aimed at making travel a little less complex, a little less stressful and a little less expensive.

flydubai currently has a fleet comprising 13 brand new Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft and operates to 31 destinations: Beirut-Lebanon, Amman-Jordan, Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia-Syria, Alexandria, Luxor and Assiut-Egypt, Djibouti-Africa, Doha-Qatar, Baku-Azerbaijan, Khartoum-Sudan, Bahrain, Kathmandu-Nepal, Muscat-Oman, Kabul-Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lucknow-India, Istanbul-Turkey, Karachi-Pakistan, Colombo-Sri Lanka, Erbil-Iraq, Samara and Yekaterinburg-Russia, Yerevan-Armenia, Abha, Yanbu and Gassim-KSA, Sulaimaniyah-Iraq, Ashgabat-Turkmenistan and Chittagong-Bangladesh. Flights to Dhaka-Bangladesh will start on February 14.

Based on a low cost business model, flydubai offers a value-for-money product at an extremely competitive price. Its website (www.flydubai.com) will be an important interface for customers, together with a call centre (+9714 301 0800) and travel partners.