Business | Aviation
Norwegian will start direct flights to Dubai
Low-fare airline Norwegian said yesterday it will start direct flights to Dubai in a new sign that passenger traffic between the Middle East's business hub and Scandinavia is growing.
- By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
- Published: 01:04 March 1, 2008
Dubai: Low-fare airline Norwegian said yesterday it will start direct flights to Dubai in a new sign that passenger traffic between the Middle East's business hub and Scandinavia is growing.
Norwegian said it will start flights from Oslo and Stockholm to Dubai from October 26.
The airline said it will be the first low-cost route from Europe to Dubai.
The route will be served twice weekly from Oslo and three times a week from Stockholm, using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Norwegian spokeswoman Anne Grete Ellingsen told Gulf News the airline is looking at a passenger mix of business and leisure travellers, primarily from Scandinavia.
"But we also hope to attract tourists to Scandinavia from Dubai," she said, adding that the airline hopes to have an average load factor of 80 per cent on the Dubai route.
"With five weekly direct flights from Scandinavia, our customers will have the flexibility to choose length of stay and a chance to escape either a hot summer or a cold winter," Daniel Skjeldam, chief commercial officer, said.
"A direct connection also means that people wanting to travel between Scandinavia and Dubai no longer have to struggle through connections at European airport hubs.
Travel between Scandinavia and Dubai is growing by about 20 per cent annually and there are more than 300 Danish, Swedish and Norwegian companies operating in the emirate, offering a good base of corporate customers, according to Scandinavian Airlines International (SAS), which began flying to Dubai late last year from the Danish capital Copenhagen.
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