Low-cost carrier flydubai on Wednesday said it would like to launch flight services on all the 13 routes and many more if the Government of India allows it.
“The more you open up and give access to the outside world, the more you develop as has happened with Dubai. With a strong bilateral trade relationship worth over $ 50 billion a year between UAE and India, we expect the Indian government to give us more access to its airspace in the interest of further growth in trade and businesses between the two countries,” said flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith here.
The three-year-old airline, owned by the Dubai government, launched its flight services on the second Indian route between Hyderabad and Dubai from Sunday operating three flights a week, after the maiden Lucknow-Dubai route.
The one-way fare from Hyderabad to Dubai starts at Rs 8,000 with additional charges for check-in baggage etc, which Ghaith said was the lowest in the industry.
Close to half of its 17 aircraft comprise Boeing 727 acquired by the company in 2010 while four more from the total 50 aircraft ordered by it would join the fleet by the end of this year, he said. The company is investing about $ 4 billion in these 50 aircraft. It currently operates 540 flights a week on various international routes of which three are from India.
On low cost-airlines running into losses, the flydubai CEO said he would be happy to run them profitably if given to him.
UAE ambassador to India Mohammed Sultan Al Owais said the bilateral trade between UAE and Dubai had grown 300 times in the last five years and the potential for the same was much more in the coming years.
