Flydubai touches down in Bucharest

The inaugural flight, FZ797, departed Dubai Terminal 2 at 0915hrs today (1 October), arriving at Henri Coandă International Airport (Bucharest Otopeni International Airport) at 1330hrs local time. A water cannon salute and delegation of high ranking Romanian state officials received the aircraft on the runway.

Ovidiu Silaghi, the Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure joined H.E. Yacub Yousif Al Hosani, the UAE Ambassador to Romania and flydubai's Chief Executive Officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith, to commemorate the aircraft's arrival. Once on the tarmac, the delegation, together with local media, attended an official ceremony and press conference inside the airport terminal.

H.E. Yacub Yousif Al Hosani, the UAE Ambassador to Romania, stated: "The opening of Flydubai's route will lead to the strengthening of relations with Romania through those travelling for leisure as well as developing further our trade links. We wish Flydubai continued success in Romania."

Flydubai's CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: "Since the launch of our first flight to Central & Eastern Europe with our service to Baku in Azerbaijan, in November 2009, Flydubai has expanded rapidly to become the leading airline servicing the region. With the addition of Bucharest, we now fly to 13 destinations across eight countries in the region and I would like to personally thank everyone who has been involved in helping us introduce our flights to Bucharest. We hope that this new service will play a significant role in developing business opportunities and provide travellers with a quality and affordable link to one of Europe's most dynamic cities."

Flydubai now serves Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine in addition to Romania, with a total of 78 weekly flights across the region.

Bucharest offers visitors a number of attractions including The National Museum of Art, Romanian Athenaeum as well as Lipscani, which houses several examples of medieval and Renaissance architecture. The city has also developed a large, thriving economy centred on property and construction as well as information technology and communications services.

In parallel to Flydubai's expanding presence in Central & Eastern Europe, visitor numbers between the UAE and the region continue to grow. In the past 12 months, during which Flydubai expanded its presence in Russia to four points and launched services to Ukraine, air traffic between the UAE and Russia has increased by 85%between the UAE and Ukraine, traffic has risen by 112%.