Dubai-based flydubai's inaugural flight touched down today at Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO), marking the start of a new daily service from the carrier’s second point in Moscow. With operations to Vnukovo International Airport (VKO), flydubai is now offering 14 weekly flights to the Russian capital.

The announcement sees flydubai expand its presence in Russia to 11 points in 10 cities. Earlier this autumn, the carrier launched flights to Makhachkala and Voronezh, resumed services to Ufa and increased capacity on existing routes: Kazan, Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody, Moscow (Vnukovo), Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Yekaterinburg. Today the carrier operates 47 flights a week to Russia and the figure will grow to 58 flights for the New Year holiday season.        

Commenting on the inaugural, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said: “We are excited to see our service to Sheremetyevo take off today as flydubai continues to expand its presence in Russia. The demand for travel to Dubai from Russia has seen extraordinary growth this year. We look forward to supporting this growth by offering more convenient and affordable options between Moscow and Dubai for both business and leisure travellers.”

The inaugural flight arrived early today at Sheremetyevo International Airport Terminal E. The return flight from Sheremetyevo to Dubai International Terminal 2 departed today as well.

Denis Pashkovskiy, Deputy General Director, Commercial Activities of Sheremetyevo International Airport, said: “Sheremetyevo Airport is pleased to welcome flydubai, the new partner from the United Arab Emirates. The company is well known for its high level of service, safety and passenger comfort. Sheremetyevo develops infrastructure, introduces innovative technologies and takes leading positions in international ratings on service quality. Partnering with flydubai will be mutually beneficial and will open new opportunities for passengers and customers.”

Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS), said: “partnering with Sheremetyevo was a strategic decision as flydubai will be the first UAE airline to offer direct scheduled services from Dubai to the busiest airport in Russia. Next year passengers from Sheremetyevo will be among the first to enjoy our new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, as we are the first airline in our region to take delivery of this newest aircraft type.”

Commenting on the new MAX aircraft, Efendi added: “flydubai is well-known for its innovative approach to enhancing its passengers travel experience and we unveiled at this year’s Dubai Airshow lie flat beds in Business Class and Economy Class seats that are designed to optimise space and comfort. We are sure that our passengers will enjoy the experience on board.”

Sheremetyevo will welcome flydubai’s first flight operated by the Boeing 737 MAX 8 on 01 January 2018. Deliveries of the new aircraft model started in August 2017 and the airline is now preparing to roll out the MAX on select destinations across its network. Six of these aircraft will join the flydubai fleet by the end of the year as part of the order placed at the Dubai Airshow in 2013, which was the largest single-aisle Boeing aircraft order in the Middle East at that time.

This month flydubai broke its own record at the 2017 Dubai Airshow with a historic USD 27 billion order for 225 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The announcement will bring the total number of aircraft flydubai has on order to 320 and support the carrier’s future development.

Those travelling to Moscow can now benefit from the increased flexibility of a double daily service to two different airports in the Russian capital. Business and Economy Class are available on both flights, while Sheremetyevo passengers will soon be able to experience the onboard features of the MAX. These include a new Economy Class seat with optimised space and comfort and a redefined Business Class that provides a perfect environment to work, enjoy a meal, catch a movie or have a well-earned rest with a fully flat bed.

Early this year, the UAE Cabinet granted citizens of the Russian Federation an entry visa on arrival valid for 30 days for the first time, renewable one time only for another 30 days. In addition, travel from Russia to Dubai increased by 95% in January–September 2017, according to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM)[1].

flydubai operates over 1,700 flights per week to over 95 destinations in 44 countries, including popular routes among Russian travellers, such as Dubai (UAE), Male (Maldives), Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Kathmandu (Nepal).