flydubai adds second African destination

flydubai, Dubai's low-cost airline, added a second African destination to its network when its first flight touched down in Djibouti yesterday.

The new service will operate three times a week, with one-way fares starting at AED 650.

“One of the reasons flydubai was set up was to operate to second tier cities that are currently underserved by airlines flying out of Dubai,” explained flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith.

”While these cities may not be large enough markets for the bigger airlines, there is still a significant amount of traffic from these markets and we believe they will be important and profitable routes for flydubai.”

Al Ghaith said he was confident that the Djibouti route would be a popular one.

“As one of the very few airlines to offer direct flights to this relatively small destination, we anticipate strong demand from both the business and leisure markets. Djibouti has long established commercial links with Dubai, including DP World, which operates the Port of Djibouti.”

Bordered by Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia on the Gulf of Aden, Djibouti has a population of half a million people. It is flydubai’s second in Africa, the airline already flies to Alexandria, and sixth destination overall, with Beirut, Amman, Damascus and Aleppo already serviced.

“The flydubai service brings us closer to many more destinations and makes our country more accessible – it will bring new visitors to boost tourism and will make the trading links with Dubai much more easily accessible,” said Djibouti minister of equipment and transport Ali Hassan Bahdon.

“This new service is excellent news for everyone who lives and works here.”