Dubai: Budget carrier flydubai has slashed its fares across a number of routes, in an apparent bid to stimulate demand after the peak summer travel period.
The airline announced on Wednesday that it is offering up to 50 per cent discount on economy and business class seats for flights from Dubai to more than 80 destinations, including Prague, Maldives, Russia, Georgia, Thailand, India and Ukraine.
The sale has already kicked off and flyers have until midnight of September 26, 2017 to avail themselves of price cuts. The discounted fares are for trips between September 15, 2017 and October 27, 2018.
"From today until 26 September you can get big savings on fares. The earlier you book, the greater the discount," the carrier said.
Airline promotions are expected around this time of year, particularly between September and mid-November, when demand tends to slow down.
“This is the time of year when UAE residents have gone back from their annual vacation. Flydubai is also in competition with carriers like Air Arabia, so they want to get more market share and stimulate ticket sales during the lean season,” Premjit Bangara, general manager for travel at Sharaf Travel Services,, told Gulf News.
“Bookings, however, usually pick up around mid-November to December.”
The low-cost airline had earlier reported Dh142.5 million in losses for the first half of 2017, up from Dh89.9 million a year earlier.
However, the carrier maintained that revenues increased by 9.9 per cent year-on-year, while passenger numbers rose by 10.5 per cent to 5.4 million.
“The demand for travel on flydubai remains strong, and the airline has seen its overall market share grow,” the company said in a statement earlier.
