Dubai: Dubai-based low-cost carrier flydubai has announced that its regular passenger flight operation will remain suspended until June 4.
The decision has been taken in line with the updated Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) as part of the precautionary measures being implemented in response to COVID-19. The carrier continues to focus its efforts on supporting government requests with repatriation flights and enabling the movement of essential goods across its network and beyond, according to a flydubai statement issued on Monday. Flydubai has not cancelled all flights in its schedule and the cancellations are being made in line with the published NOTAMs.
Since the directive came into effect on March 24, 2020, flydubai has enabled the movement of more than 1,651,929 kgs of perishables, medical supplies, express courier and essential goods. flydubai Cargo operated 101 flights, to 26 countries, utilising six of the carrier’s Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft which have been allocated to operate as all-cargo flights.
Safety standards
Hamad Obaidalla, Chief Commercial Officer at flydubai, said: “Air cargo operations will continue to be our focus over the next few weeks. We have been working closely with our strategic partners enabling flydubai to transport cargo seamlessly to where it is needed the most, while adhering to the safety standards set by the industry and the World Health Organisation (WHO).”
The flydubai Cargo is maximising its cargo capacity by transporting goods in the cargo hold on repatriation flights as well. The carrier obtained government approvals to operate 90 special repatriation flights over the past few weeks.
90 repatriation flights
The airline has so far repatriated more than 12,532 passengers on 90 repatriation flights to across 19 countries, thanks to the efforts and collaboration of embassies and government authorities.
These repatriation flights operated to: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Croatia, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Somaliland, Sudan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
While flydubai will continue to operate more cargo-only flights during this period, repatriation flights will be subject to government approvals and passengers are encouraged to check directly with their embassies for more information as well as flydubai.com.
The airline has received over 187,000 enquiries since March and has allocated a dedicated team to support with customer care.
