September 02, 2009 16:43 PM

Flydubai Expands Operations In Africa

DUBAI, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Dubai's first low cost airline, flydubai, added a second African destination to its network Wednesday when flight FZ601 touched down at Djibouti Ambouli International Airport.

According to a report by Emirates news agency (WAM), the new service will operate three times a week, namely on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, said: "One of the reasons flydubai was set up was to operate to second tier cities that are currently underserved by airlines flying out of Dubai. While these cities may not be large enough markets for the bigger airlines, there is still a significant amount of traffic from these markets and we believe they will be important and profitable routes for flydubai.

With a population of just half a million people, Djibouti is roughly half the size of Abu Dhabi, with a land mass of 23,000 km2 encompassing desert, highlands and plateaus. Djibouti is a republic which was formed in 1977, when the country gained independence from France. The national languages are Arabic and French.

Bordered by Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, Djibouti has a long history as a trading port and is strategically located on the Gulf of Aden.

Djibouti is flydubai's second African destination after Alexandria and the sixth destination on the network, which also includes Beirut, Amman, Damascus and Aleppo.

-- BERNAMA

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