Coronavirus: flydubai welcomes its first tourists to Dubai from Ukraine

Two dozen tourists from Ukraine said they chose Dubai as their first holiday destination of choice

Flydubai welcomes its first tourists arriving in Dubai this week. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

Tourists from Ukraine arrived in Dubai this week on one of flydubai’s first commercial inbound flights since Covid-19 restrictions lifted.

At 9.45pm on Wednesday, flight FZ 728 touched down on the tarmac at Terminal 2 of Dubai International Airport from Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport.

Of the 166 passengers on board, 25 said they chose Dubai as their first holiday destination of choice after flights resumed globally this month.

Welcomed on arrival by airport staff, some of the passengers were interviewed by Dubai’s Tourism and Commerce Marketing team to mark the occasion, including returning tourists and those visiting the city for the first time.

In a one-minute video, posted to Twitter by Dubai Media Office, one passenger travelling with friends said it was his first trip to Dubai.

“The journey was really nice, it was a direct flight from my country, Ukraine, and it took five hours,” he said.

“This is our first time in Dubai, we were waiting until we were allowed to finally come.”

A handful of returning travellers said they were happy to be back in the city they love, especially after months of travel restrictions.

“We are very happy to come back to Dubai,” another passenger said.

“Everything is clean and safe and we thank the government for their efforts.”

Hamad Obaidalla, chief commercial officer at flydubai, said the airline was looking forward to seeing its network grow to 66 destinations over the summer period.

“We have been hard at work to redesign our passenger journey in order to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19,” he said.

“These efforts are aligned to the stringent public health and safety measures that are in place to ensure that visitors feel safe when they arrive in Dubai.”

Ticket sales for flydubai flights resumed on June 24 after flight suspensions, introduced to the UAE in March to curb the spread of coronavirus, lifted.

Flights are now open for bookings on flydubai.com to up to 24 destinations including Amman, Alexandria, Baku and Tbilisi.

Destinations and flight frequencies will continue to be added to the schedule over the summer, subject to government approvals.