Inayat-ur-Rahman, Gulf Today

Emirates and flydubai airlines will have a combined network of 168 destinations by the end of May, offering more convenience, choice and seamless connectivity for travellers across their combined network.

Since the revival of the airlines’ codeshare partnership in September 2020, close to 500,000 passengers have flown on the combined network.

Top destinations booked through the codeshare include Kabul, Kathmandu, Kyiv, the Maldives and Zanzibar.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group and Chairman of flydubai, said, “The Emirates and flydubai partnership continues to grow steadily to offer travellers even better connectivity to Dubai, and through Dubai to an extensive global network.”

“We are seeing strong customer take-up and are excited to take the partnership to the next level by expanding services to new destinations. The close collaboration between Emirates and flydubai also benefits Dubai as a business, leisure, and aviation hub with enhanced connectivity and travel flows from the combined network of both carriers as it continues to safely welcome visitors from around the world. We’re confident that both airlines will rebuild their networks even better, as they chart the path to recovery,” he added.

Emirates customers can travel on codeshare flights to over 56 unique flydubai destinations, while flydubai customers can choose from over 82 Emirates destinations. Customers can also take advantage of an enhanced schedule spread across 30 destinations served by both airlines.


Picture used for illustrative purpose.

flydubai recently announced the resumption of flights into 12 destinations in Russia, five cities in Iran, as well as flights to seasonal destinations in Georgia, Turkey and Montenegro, with more destinations expected to be announced in the coming months as countries open their borders for business and tourism.

Both airlines continue to layer on a greater range of flight schedules with 16 additional countries opening up for international tourism with quarantine-free entry, including: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Djibouti, Finland, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Serbia, Tanzania, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.*

Starting 21st May, Emirates’ customers will enjoy an even better experience with improved schedules, and connections to 22 flydubai destinations from Terminal 3. Destinations include Basra, Belgrade, Bucharest, Kyiv, Odesa, Prague, Salalah, Sofia, Zanzibar, amongst others.

Emirates and flydubai offer travel experiences and inflight services that are focused on the value proposition of each individual brand, while prioritising the health and safety of customers and employees on the ground and in air.

Both airlines have implemented extensive biosafety measures throughout the travel journey, including enhanced sanitisation, state-of-the-art HEPA filters onboard, amongst a number of other protocols. A large portion of crew and pilots across both airlines have also been fully vaccinated.

Meanhwile, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, received an official government delegation from Egypt at Arabian Travel Market, the Middle East’s leading travel and tourism exhibition.


Picture used for illustrative purpose.

The Egyptian government delegation was headed by Mohamed Manar, Minister of Aviation; Khaled El-Enany, Minister of Tourism & Antiquities; Bassem Samy Abdelkarim, Assistant Minister of Civil Aviation for International, Commercial and Media Affairs; Amro Abuelenien, Chairman of Egyptair Holding Company; and Nevine El-Aref, Media Advisor to the Minister of Antiquities.

During the visit, the dignitaries explored opportunities to increase tourism flows between the UAE and Egypt. The delegation also discussed Emirates’ services to Egypt, and the airline’s ongoing contribution to the recovery of trade and tourism in the country.

Emirates resumed its services to Cairo in June 2020, and quickly ramped up its services just two months later with the deployment of its flagship A380 aircraft. The airline currently operates twice daily A380 flights to Cairo to meet consistently high passenger demand as part of its 21 weekly services to the Egyptian capital, enhancing connectivity between the UAE and Egypt and beyond to the airline’s network of over 90 destinations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic Emirates SkyCargo helped transport urgently required medical supplies and food in and out of Egypt. The airline continued to provide connectivity to local businesses and helped facilitate exports including thousands of tonnes of food and perishables from Egypt bound for the Middle East and Europe, contributing to the local economy. During the same period, Emirates SkyCargo also helped with the import of pharmaceuticals into Egypt, including the COVID-19 vaccine.

Emirates has been serving Egypt since 1986, and since then almost 8.4 million passengers have travelled to and from Cairo on Emirates.

Meanwhile, ATECA Hotels, a subsidiary of ATECA Holding, unveiled its aggressive expansion plans at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Dubai with a target of reaching five properties by Q4 2022 in Uzbekistan - Central Asia. The group already has its first upscale 4-star hotel  ‘ATECA Hotel Suites’ under development in Tashkent which is slated to open in July 2021.