Flydubai to expand European network with flights to Budapest, Naples

Dubai-based airline flydubai has announced plans to expand its European network with the launch of flights to Budapest in Hungary and Naples in Italy.

The airline will operate five flights per week to Naples from June 4, 2019 becoming the first UAE carrier to offer direct flights.

Daily flights to Budapest will start on June 27, 2019 and will be in addition to the current service offered by flydubai’s partner airline Emirates.

Emirates will codeshare on both routes, a statement said.

For bookings under the codeshare, passengers will receive the Emirates checked baggage allowance in business and economy classes as well as complimentary meals.

Flydubai also confirmed that it will deploy its new Boeing 737 MAX 8 on both the new routes, which will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB).

“Budapest and Naples are important centres for commerce, trade and industry and are incredibly popular leisure destinations, especially during the summer,” said Jeyhun Efendi, SVP, Commercial Operations and E-commerce for flydubai.

“Making these destinations more accessible to travellers looking for new places to explore will undoubtedly stimulate traffic flows and tourism. These new routes provide those in Hungary and Italy with the opportunity to explore Dubai and beyond on our network.”

Flydubai’s route network in Europe currently includes 24 destinations in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Macedonia (FYROM), Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine.

In September, the airline announced that it had cancelled flights to some destinations and invested in others after conducting a route review in the face of rising interest rates and the stronger dollar.

It also announced a new fare structure for economy passengers last week.

Read more: Flydubai revises economy fares

The changes came after flydubai more than doubled its losses in the first half of its financial year citing higher fuel costs and tough economic conditions.

Read: Flydubai doubles losses in first half of 2018