ASTANA – United Arab Emirates (UAE) airline Flydubai will increase the number of its flights to the Central Asian region. The Dubai-based airline will be Kazakhstan’s first two-flight-per-week UAE carrier, according to a Nov. 2 company press release.
“It has been a year since the start of our operations in Kazakhstan and we are pleased to extend our network in the country where we have seen strong demand for our services,” airline Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al Ghaith said during a press briefing. “Astana is a major economic hub in Central Asia and the launch of Flydubai’s flights to the [Kazakh] capital marks an important milestone in our expansion in the region. We look forward to showcasing our services in the capital and contributing to the development of trade and tourism between the economic hubs of Central Asia and the Middle East.”
“This is an exciting time to launch services to the capital of Kazakhstan as both Astana and Dubai are preparing to host [international expos] in 2017 and 2020 respectively,” Commercial Senior Vice President of Flydubai in the UAE, European Union, the Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States Jeyhun Efendi added. “We are committed to supporting travel and trade between Kazakhstan and the UAE by offering affordable and flexible services along with business class and cargo operations. Now passengers from Astana will be able to visit multiple destinations in Africa, the Middle East and the Subcontinent throughout the Flydubai network.”
Flydubai has been in the Kazakh market since 2014 with flights to Almaty and Shymkent. Astana will be the ninth destination in Flydubai’s network in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The airline will now operate 38 weekly flights to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Round trip tickets for business class passengers will start from 325,000 tenge (US$1,049) with luggage not exceeding 40 kilogrammes and for economy class passengers from 84,420 tenge (US$272), including all taxes with luggage not exceeding 20 kilogrammes.
