Flydubai to fly to Erbil

Budget airline Flydubai has announced flights to Erbil, in Iraq, its 22nd destination.

Flights to Iraq’s third largest city and capital of the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq, will start on Friday, July 16. A one-way fare is priced at AED1,225.

Flydubai’s CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “Erbil is reinventing itself and undergoing an economic boom with new hotels, leisure and healthcare facilities, commercial towers and trade centres. The city’s rapid development has been compared with that of Dubai and it is a beacon of progress for the rest of the country.

“In 2009, the UAE was the top foreign investor in Iraq and according to reports, the UAE is set to double investment in Iraqi Kurdistan to around AED22 billion in the next three years. flydubai’s new service will not only help to strengthen the relationship between our two nations but will also give the many Iraqi expatriates living in the UAE another affordable, quality air travel alternative to visit friends and family back home.”

More than 6,000 years of history and the region’s natural beauty has made it a regional retreat for centuries. With the advent of a more stable period in the country’s history and increasing numbers of direct flights, the city is opening its doors to a new wave of travellers and tourists.

Flights to Erbil will operate twice a week on Fridays and Mondays. On Fridays, FZ201 will leave Dubai at 1830hrs, arriving in Erbil after a flight of three hours at 2030hrs local time. FZ202, will depart from Erbil at 2115hrs, landing in Dubai at 0055hrs local time. On Mondays, FZ201 will depart from Dubai at 1130hrs arriving in Erbil at 1330hrs local time and the return flight, FZ202, leaves at 1415hrs landing in Dubai at 1800hrs local time.