Dubai-based flydubai marks the start of the winter travel season in Russia with four new destinations and increased frequencies on existing routes.

The airline’s first flight to Makhachkala landed on October 31 and was greeted by a traditional water cannon salute. The carrier also inaugurated flights to Voronezh, resumed services to Ufa and announced the launch of flights to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow from November 29.

These new routes, together with the increased frequencies from mid-December, will expand flydubai’s footprint in Russia to 11 points and 52 weekly flights. The carrier continues to explore new opportunities to service the market while continuing to operate direct airlinks to the remaining points in Russia including Kazan, Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody, Moscow (Vnukovo), Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Yekaterinburg.

Jeyhun Efendi, senior vice president Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) at flydubai, said: “It has been seven years since flydubai entered the Russian market and we continue to expand our footprint in the country. With four additional routes and increased frequencies, we’re offering more options to explore Russia for travellers from Dubai and across our network.”

All flights to Russia offer the option of a more personalised travel experience with flydubai’s Business Class. The premium offering provides priority check-in, comfortable spacious seating, a range of inflight entertainment, delicious meals and a dedicated 24-hour Business Team to assist with bookings and enquiries throughout the journey. Passengers can relax before the flight at flydubai’s dedicated Business Lounge in Dubai and access business lounges in Voronezh and across the airline’s growing network.

Economy Class offers a variety of services on board including a selection of snacks, hot meals available for pre-order and enjoy more than 1,000 hours of films, television, music and an extensive range of Russian content. flydubai’s reward programme, Open, allows members to earn points with every flight and spend on other flydubai flights, upgrades and optional extras for any trip, on any day, to any destination.

Flydubai operates flights to more than 95 destinations in 44 countries, including popular routes among Russian travellers, such as Dubai (UAE), Bangkok (Thailand), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Kathmandu (Nepal) and Zanzibar (Tanzania). Passengers can also benefit from flydubai's interline agreements with other carriers, providing opportunities for onward travel to more than 200 destinations. - TradeArabia News Service