JOIN USThe airline said that by adding the new destination they would provide a low-cost flying option from Dubai to Hyderabad and operate three flights per week.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, Flydubai told reporters that they were hopeful that the new connection would bring increased tourism and business opportunities to Hyderabad. “We are in talks with the Indian government to expand the traffic rights and bring in more liberalisation for expanding to other cities as well,” he said.
The move is likely to create a fare war. However, the increasing fuel price hikes may affect the demand in the long term.
On its expansion plans for India, Ghaith said India is a key destination for Flydubai, which was set up by the Dubai government to provide a good quality, low cost alternative for the millions of expatriates living in the UAE.
“There is a significant improvement of over 85 per cent in flight traffic to Lucknow after our introduction and we hope high load factors from Hyderabad as well,” he added.
Further, Flydubai is also planning a fleet expansion from the present level of 17 Boeing 747s to 50 by 2016 at an investment of $4 billion. The airline competes with Etihad Airways and Emirates Airlines that have daily flights from Hyderabad and several other destinations in India.