Flydubai has India on its radar

Despite being in operation for only five years, low- cost Gulf carrier flydubai boasts of flying to more than 65 destinations and carried more than 6.82 million passengers in 2013 alone. India is next on flydubai's radar.

At the carrier's launch party here on Monday, Flydubai chief executive officer Ghaith Al Ghaith said, "We are ready to take any challenge.

... Any destination that is available for us, we can operate.

We are thankful to the authorities for providing us with the opportunity to deliver more options to passengers who are looking to travel to India and the UAE." Ashok Kapur, chairman of SKH Aviation, which will help the Dubai- based airline in ticketing, cargo handling and visa operations, said, " We are bringing flydubai to India. Flights will start with Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi with the next destinations being Ahmedabad and Lucknow.

Later, we'll go to Mumbai and Chennai." As of now, the frequency of flights in Delhi is four times a day while in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi it is three times.

"Everything will happen step by step," said Kapur. " Right now, there are about 5,000 passengers per week. Ultimately, our goal is 20,000. The relationship between the UAE and India is such that business is bound to increase." Flydubai plans to build on this relationship, and also expose the less- travelled section of India to foreign destinations. Sudhir Sreedharan, senior vice- president, commercial ( GCC, Subcontinent, Africa) for flydubai, said, " Our endeavour is to ensure that we are able to create a foothold in India. We are more focussed towards the second- tier airports such as Bhubaneshwar or Patna where we feel connectivity isn't enough. If these airports are given to us, we can definitely add value and cater for a wider demographic in the country."

Courtesy: Mail Today