Flydubai marks 10 years of operations
Flydubai celebrated its 10th anniversary this month with a special flight from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Beirut, Lebanon, marking the milestone moment.
Ten years ago, flydubai’s first flight took off from Dubai International Airport bound for Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, on 01 June 2009, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the history of aviation in the UAE.
The special flight was met with a celebratory water cannon salute upon arrival in Beirut. Onboard were passengers who had flown on flydubai’s first flight who reminisced about the inaugural flight.
Commenting on the 10th year anniversary, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of flydubai, said: “For many years, the Government of Dubai recognised the need for another carrier to serve our country. In 2009, we were able to achieve this thanks to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.”
“Flydubai was launched with a mandate to open new markets and make travel more accessible to more people. I am happy to see flydubai deliver on that commitment which has seen the airline connect 71 previously underserved cities to Dubai allowing a population of 1.5 billion easier access to one of the world’s leading aviation hubs,” he said.
"Celebrating flydubai’s 10th anniversary, I am pleased to see the airline become another Dubai success story and look forward to their continued success in the years to come. I would like to thank all those who have worked tremendously hard to enable the airline to deliver this wonderful team effort,” added Sheikh Ahmed.
Reflecting on the last 10 years and looking to the years ahead, Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer of flydubai, said: "Flydubai’s commitment to making travel more convenient and more affordable has only grown stronger over the past 10 years. We realised early on that travel is about bridging the distance between people and we will continue to change the way people travel around the region. We are pleased to see that more than 70 million passengers chose to flydubai since the start of our operations.”
"I thank our employees and passengers for being part of our journey and look forward to many more years to come as we mark our 10th anniversary celebrating bringing people together,” added Al Ghaith.
Flydubai has grown its operations from six aircraft operating out of Terminal 2 at Dubai International (DXB) in 2009, to operating more than 1,700 weekly flights from its home base in Terminal 2 with flights to select destinations operating out of Terminal 3 (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC).
Since commencing operations, flydubai has created a network of more than 90 destinations in 47 countries across Africa (12 points), Central Asia and the Caucasus (10 points), Europe (28 points), the GCC and the Middle East (26 points) and the Indian Subcontinent (18 points). - TradeArabia News Service