Flydubai looks to rebuild network in former Yugoslavia

Flydubai resumed operations to the former Yugoslavia earlier this month with services to Belgrade and Sarajevo. The airline plans rebuild its network in the region when all necessary conditions are met. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Flydubai’s Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations, Jeyhun Efendi, said, “We were pleased that when we resumed scheduled operations, we were able to offer three flights a week from Belgrade from July 9. In addition, we have seen three flights a week to Sarajevo start from July 10. We should recognise the fact that each country across our network is at different stages of their response to the pandemic and we will continue to add destinations as they are able to open up. All relevant stakeholders are making every effort to enable more destinations to join the Flydubai network. There are many factors that need to be considered and we are keen to grow the network as quickly and as safely as possible”.

At this point, the carrier has brought forward its resumption of flights to Skopje, which are now due to start twice per week from September 3. Seasonal operations to Dubrovnik have been cancelled for the rest of the year, while there will be a total of two flights to Tivat, scheduled on July 30 and August 7. Currently, the airline plans to increase its service to Belgrade to daily flights from September 1, while operations to Sarajevo will grow to four weekly from the same date. These plans are all subject to change. Commenting on its winter operations to Zagreb, Mr Efendi noted, “For now, it is in our intention to operate flights to Zagreb for the winter schedule, but we will make an assessment closer to the time”.

The majority of passengers currently traveling with Flydubai are those going point-to-point, rather than transferring via Dubai. “Most of our passengers are travelling point-to-point, whether they are residents returning to Dubai or those travelling for their summer holidays. We have also begun to welcome tourists to Dubai. We are working closely with our travel partners across the industry to help re-establish opportunities for travel and tourism”. He added, “Flight restrictions were lifted by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on July 7 which saw the resumption of our scheduled services. We were pleased to welcome our first tourists to Dubai, who arrived on a flight from Kiev. During the period that flight restrictions were in place, our teams were working hard to redesign the entire passenger journey and build upon the existing high standards of our operations to minimise the risk of the transmission of Covid-19. We have carefully reviewed the guidance and best practices published by a number of international organisations together with those of our regulator and our industry partners. This is a recognition that the way in which passengers travel has changed and that these protocols set out the new way of travelling”. Dubai has reopened for tourists, with nationals from the former Yugoslavia free to enter the Emirate. Passengers in Dubai are tested for the coronavirus upon arrival with their results processed within 48 hours.

During the height of the global lockdowns, Flydubai operated a number of repatriation flights to markets in the former Yugoslavia, as well as cargo-only operations, carrying medical aid and supplies. Such flights were operated to Belgrade, Zagreb and Podgorica. “During the suspension of our operations, Flydubai’s focus was on supporting government requests with repatriation flights, helping more than 78.000 passengers return to their homes including those across the Balkans. We also focused on enabling the movement of essential goods across our network and beyond with our cargo division, which has, at this point, operated 1.300 cargo flights since March 2020, carrying 7.458.117 kilograms of cargo to 41 destinations”, Mr Efendi said. He concluded, “At the moment, we are seeing a mix of scheduled flights as demand for travel grows, repatriation flights as we continue to enable citizens to return home and support the need for additional cargo”.