Flydubai to begin flights to Russia's Yekaterinburg

Flydubai is set to expand its network into the foothills of the Ural Mountains on October 16, when the airline begins flights to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, said: “Trade between Russia and the UAE has grown considerably in recent years and the addition of a direct air link with the commercially important city of Yekaterinburg will help strengthen the relationship between the two countries."

Yekaterinburg - formerly known as Sverdlovsk - is located to the east of the Ural Mountains and is the administrative centre of the Sverdlovsk Oblast region.

One of Russia’s largest cities, it has a unique architectural flavour - with over 600 monuments - and is perhaps most associated with the doomed Romanov imperial dynasty and the Russian Revolution. Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and children, were executed by the Bolsheviks at Yekaterinburg’s Ipatiev House, the home of a leading merchant family, in July 1918. The site is now commemorated by the impressive monument, the Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land.

Above: The Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land.

Today, the city is a hub for heavy industry, as well as a key centre for business and finance. The flydubai service to Yekaterinburg will operate twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays from October 16, with flight FZ901 departing Dubai at 0900hrs and arriving in Russia at 1615hrs local time. Return flight FZ902 will depart Yekaterinburg at 1715hrs and arrive in Dubai at 2030hrs.