Flydubai gets official seal of approval for Tbilisi route

As the only airline to offer direct flights from the UAE to Tbilisi, flydubai received an official seal of approval from the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, George Karbelashvili, who hailed the entry of flydubai into Georgia as an important milestone in the development of relations between the two nations.

On his official visit to the UAE and accompanied by Georgian state television, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, George Karbelashvili, commented: “Flydubai’s entry into Georgia is a momentous step in UAE-Georgia relations and I am sure flydubai’s connection between Tbilisi and Dubai will help to establish and strengthen ties between the countries. We have a number of common areas of interest such as banking, real estate, oil and gas and tourism; and this is the opportunity to step-up collaboration in these sectors while exploring new relationship avenues.”

Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO, flydubai said: “We are grateful to the Georgian authorities for welcoming flydubai into Tbilisi. As Georgia’s largest city as well as its industrial, social, and cultural centre, Tbilisi is gaining prominence in the Middle East both as a business and leisure destination. Also, improving air links between Dubai to Central and Eastern Europe is of great strategic importance to us. There are more than 55,000 expatriates from this region residing in the UAE and more than a million tourists visiting the emirates every year. We hope our network of direct flights will play a part in making travel between the UAE and Central and Eastern Europe easier and more affordable.”

Above: Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, George Karbelashvili with flydubai CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith.

Located at the crossroads of West Asia and Eastern Europe, Georgia has one of the strongest and fastest developing economies in the region and in recent years has made foreign investment more attractive through reduced regulation and taxes. It is also one of the members of the GUAM Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development along with Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

Above: Georgian delegates and flydubai officials with Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, George Karbelashvili with flydubai CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith.

Tbilisi is flydubai's 45th destination, with the UAE low-cost airline currently operating five routes to former Soviet states: Yerevan (Armenia) Baku (Azerbaijan), Yekaterinburg and Samara (Russia) and Ashgabat (Turkmenistan). In addition, flydubai will be launching two additional routes to Russia with flights to Kazan beginning 14 September 2011, and flights to Ufa beginning 17 September 2011. The airline’s flights to Ukraine will take off to Kiev and Kharkiv from 16 September 2011 and to Donetsk from 17 September 2011.