flydubai still committed to India flights plan

Low cost airline flydubai remains committed to its Indian hubs, despite postponing three of its routes this month, its CEO said on Tuesday.
"India will be operational. We are committed to operating [routes] to India," Ghaith Al Ghaith said without elaborating.
Last month the Dubai-based carrier was forced to postpone all three of its routes to Lucknow, Coimbatore and Chandigarh due to operational issues.
Passengers affected by the cancellation were given a full refund and a free voucher for travel on any of the airline’s routes until the end of November.
With more than one million India’s residing in the UAE, India is an important route for the budget carrier.
Regional budget airlines could grow by up to 10 percent in the next two years, Al Ghaith added.
flydubai launched in June amid the global economic downturn, which has seen a slump in passenger traffic.
The no frills airline, which is wholly owned by the government of Dubai, has already launched five routes to Beirut, Amman, Damascus, Aleppo and Alexandria, and is due to launch its sixth route to Djibouti in September.
flydubai is competing with other low cost airlines including Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways and Sharjah-based Air Arabia.
18/08/09 Claire Ferris-Lay/arabianBusiness.com, UAE

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Categories: Foreign Aug 2009, Low Cost General Aug 2009