Flydubai expanding its service to Saudi Arabia

Flydubai has unveiled its 29th destination by expanding its service to Saudi Arabia with Yanbu in The Kingdom the latest target for the airline.

Budget airlines are increasing services between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, underscoring how low fares travel is in demand even among some of the world's richest nations.

Yanbu, Saudi Arabia is the 29th destination for flydubai with services beginning January 7, the Dubai-based budget airline announced today, adding to the list of flights offered by Air Arabia of Sharjah and nasair of Saudi Arabia.

"As an important neighbour of the UAE and with many ties between the two nations, our second route to Saudi Arabia is another milestone for flydubai," said Ghaith al Ghaith, the chief executive of flydubai.

"Frequent flights to the Kingdom will help foster business connections and as such we foresee a lot of travellers coming to the UAE to conduct business, and vice-versa."

flydubai's first service to Saudi Arabia was Abha, located in the south west of the country and the capital of Asir province. Like Yanbu, Abha was not previously served by budget flights to the UAE, illustrating the Dubai airline's strategy of stimulating new markets overlooked by major regional airlines such as Etihad, Emirates and Saudi Arabian Airlines.

The budget airline has grown at a rapid pace since its commercial launch in June last year and opened an additional four new destinations in the past two weeks - Armenian capital Yerevan, Abha, Sulamaniyah in Iraq, and the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat.

nasair, the Saudi-based low cost carrier, last week launched a weekly flight from Abu Dhabi to Medina, the second direct service between the holy city and Abu Dhabi International Airport.

"The new destination comes as part of nasair's plan to expand its international route network and nasair considers Abu Dhabi to be one of the most important international destinations in the Gulf," said Simon Stewart, the chief executive of nasair.