Dubai: Flydubai will operate 70 flights per week from Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC) from late October, a sign the airline may be readying for a permanent shift.
The airline has not committed to when it will move to the new airport, however, many believe it will be before Emirates, which has said it will shift by 2025.
From October 25 this year, flydubai will fly to Amman, Jordan, Beirut, Lebanon, Chittagong, Bangladesh, Doha, Qatar, Kathmandu, Nepal, Muscat, Oman and to Kuwait from DWC, according to an emailed statement on Tuesday.
The airline said it will also continue to fly to these destinations from its current hub at Dubai International’s Terminal 2.
Flydubai is focusing on regional destinations that are already considerably served from Dubai International for its first permanent DWC flights, Will Horton, senior analyst at CAPA — Centre for Aviation, told Gulf News by email.
“DWC has space and the opportunity to target a different catchment area of Dubai — and perhaps also Abu Dhabi, if the fares are good enough,” stated Horton.
The start of permanent flights from DWC will provide flydubai with additional operational flexibility as Dubai International, the world’s busiest airport for international passenger, becomes increasingly congested.
“The start of our new operations at DWC provides further opportunities for growth for flydubai as we take delivery of more than 100 new Boeing aircraft by 2023,” stated chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith.
Flydubai expects to receive eight new aircraft every year for the next few years, including this year, the last aircraft of the initial Boeing 737 it ordered in 2008.
Earlier this year, operator Dubai Airports announced DWC will be expanded to handle 26 million passengers by 2018. It is currently able to handle between 5 million and 7 million.
The launch of DWC operations will not be entirely new to flydubai, who in 2014 temporary operated some flights from the airport during the 80-day capacity restricting runway refurbishment at Dubai International.
