Dubai-based low cost carrier flydubai yesterday announced that it will launch nonstop flights between Dubai and Budapest in Hungary and Ljubljana in Slovenia. The carrier states that it is the 1st UAE airline to provide nonstop connectivity from United Arab Emirates to Slovenia.
Ljubljana flights: Years in the making
Starting 24th September 2021, flydubai will fly 3-times-a-week between Dubai International Airport and Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport. The schedule for this flight is:
- Dubai-Ljubljana
- Departure time: 10:00
- Arrival time: 14:15
- Flight time: 6 hours and 15 minutes
- Flight number: FZ1789
- Frequency: Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays
- Ljubljana-Dubai
- Departure time: 15:15
- Arrival time: 23:05
- Flight time: 5 hours and 50 minutes
- Flight number: FZ1790
- Frequency: Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays
The route will be operated by a Boeing B737-800 aircraft and Emirates will codeshare on this route. For past several years, Ljubljana was seeking flights to Dubai, Doha, or Abu Dhabi in order for the country to have one-stop access to Australia and Asia.
Currently, the only airline providing the much-needed connectivity for Slovenia is Turkish Airlines that offers flights via Istanbul. However, having a link to a Middle East city was always highly desirable because of the extra one-stop destinations that this would provide.
As Ljubljana is situated very close to several large airports that are well-connected to the Middle East, airline were ignoring it. Vienna Airport is very close to the Eastern part of Slovenia, while Venice is very close to the Western.
Additionally, Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, is even closer to the Slovenian capital. Until the onset of pandemic, Zagreb had a daily link to Dubai with an Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft and two daily flights to Doha with Qatar Airways’ Airbus A320 aircraft.
Furthermore, in the past, Emirates even itself sold tickets to Ljubljana via Zagreb: passengers would land in Zagreb on a scheduled Emirates service and then transfer onto a bus that took them to Ljubljana.
Flights to Budapest
As of 30th September 2021, flydubai will operate 4-weekly flights between Dubai International Airport and Budapest Airport. The flight schedule is:
- Dubai-Budapest
- Departure time: 17:35
- Arrival time: 21:30
- Flight time: 5 hours and 55 minutes
- Flight number: FZ1407
- Frequency: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
- Budapest-Dubai
- Departure time: 23:30
- Arrival time: 07:05
- Flight time: 5 hours and 35 minutes
- Flight number: FZ1408
- Frequency: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
Budapest route will be operated by flydubai’s Boeing B737MAX aircraft. Like the Ljubljana flights, Emirates will codeshare on Budapest route.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officerc flydubai, said:
As demand for travel continues to increase, Budapest and Ljubljana are welcome additions to our growing network. With more countries lifting restrictions on international travel, we look forward to providing passengers with more options for travel this year following the launch of our wide range of summer destinations.
Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce at flydubai said:
We are pleased to see our network in Europe grow further with the start of operations to Budapest and Ljubljana. These destinations have much to offer and give travellers the chance to explore new places that will help stimulate flows of travel and tourism, particularly after a time when our customers haven’t been able to travel as much as they would have liked. Passengers travelling from these destinations will also have the opportunity to explore Dubai and beyond on our network.
flydubai recently announced flights to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and Santorini & Mykonos in Greece. The airline also announced return to Naples in Italy.
Featured image by flydubai
What do you think of flydubai’s latest expansion in Europe? Are you happy to see Ljubljana final get connectivity to the Middle East? Let me know in the comments section below.
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