Flydubai operates four flights to Lanka

by Shirajiv Sirimane

Underlining the tourism potential in the country, Dubai's only low cost airliner, Flydubai commenced direct flights to Colombo from last Thursday. The airline will operate four flights a week on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Flydubai's CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith, said in Colombo that Travel to Sri Lanka has shown a significant increase so far this year, with a 106 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2010, and the robust economic growth of the country were some of the reasons for the airline to include Sri Lanka as the tier 21st destination," he said.

Sri Lanka's economy has seen sustained growth in the last few years, recovering from a turbulent period marked by conflict war and natural disasters. The country has shaken off these setbacks and started to re-emerge by recording a 3.5 per cent estimated GDP growth in 2009, helped along by extensive foreign investment, including trade with the UAE.

He added that Sri Lanka is strongly linked with other countries in the region and this too was taken in to account. The redeveloped Colombo airport too is another plus point.

"Sri Lanka is a popular tourist destination and by making travel to the capital a less complex, stressful and less expensive, I am confident this new route will be a popular one."

He said they would also be able to offer the lowest fair to Dubai and also look at launching travel packages in the future to Sri Lanka. "Cargo potential to Colombo too would be explored," he added. Both countries are actively engaging in stimulating further bilateral trade and the Flydubai service will help strengthen these ties.

Established in March 2008, Flydubai, Dubai's first low cost airline, started operations on June 01, 2009. Set up by the government of Dubai, Flydubai is aimed at making travel less complex, less stressful and less expensive. Flydubai operates from a modernised and enhanced Terminal 2 on the north side of Dubai International Airport.