flydubai Expands into Ukraine

Low-cost carrier flydubai has announced its first expansion into the Ukrainian market with plans to add flights in September from Dubai to Kiev, Kharkiv and Donetsk. An estimated 125,000 O&D passengers travelled between the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine in the last year, a market that is dominated by operators from the Eastern European country.

Aerosvit Airlines and Ukraine International Airlines already offer direct services from Kiev to Dubai, with the latter also serving Abu Dhabi, while low-cost carrier AirArabia has a daily schedule between Sharjah and Kiev. However, there are no flights from outside of the capital where passengers are currently forced to travel domestically to Kiev to travel to the Gulf region. The flights are due to begin from the week commencing September 12.