NONSTOP to Dubai!

Historic event for Salzburg Airport / flydubai connects Salzburg with the third largest airport in the world / Numerous onward flight options in the Emirates’ worldwide route network / The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are relying on Salzburg and its recreational areas

A lot of work and long negotiations lie behind the team of Salzburg Airport and now the time has finally come! At 9:40 p.m. this Thursday the first flydubai aircraft (a Boeing 737-800 Max) landed in Salzburg with more than 140 passengers on board, to start the year-round flight connection to Dubai - a milestone in the history of the airport! For the first time there is a direct connection from Salzburg to the Arabian metropolis Dubai and thus to the third largest airport worldwide.

"It is done! The negotiations were quite complex (and took a while to conclude), but finally crowned with success. It is a very special event for our airport! This connection to Dubai opens up a multitude of new onward flight opportunities worldwide," says a delighted airport procurator Christopher Losmann. „The codehsare connection to the Emirates hub in Dubai creates completelx new persepectives for Salzburg Airport. We have virtually gained a “4th alliance”- beside the three already existing alliances Star Alliance, oneworld and Skyteam - and thus will be able to offer passengers the opportunity to reach destinations all over the world, quickly and conveniently in the combined flydubai and Emirates destination network. This is an incredible benefit for the airport, the Province of Salzburg and our passengers”, Losmann continued.

A review:

A direct connection from Salzburg to Dubai was already on the cards for the first time at the beginning of 2019. Despite the traffic rights, which had not yet been granted and the difficult situation for the aviation industry due to the Corona pandemic, the intention to fly from Salzburg to the United Arab Emirates was pursued with all our strength. In recent weeks, the Austrian entry regulation was the last hurdle to be cleared, as the amendment to the directive means that now nothing stands in the way of quarantine-free entry for people already vaccinated against Covid-19.

Regional airports do not live from mass traffic, but from sensible flight connections and in particular connections to international hubs.

“It is a great event for the province of Salzburg and of course also for the airport! With the NONSTOP connection to Dubai and thus to the HUB of the worldwide Emirates network, Salzburg Airport has reached a milestone in its development. On the one hand, Dubai offers vacationers and business travelers from the region a fast connection to the Arabian region with onward flight possibilities to the whole world. On the other hand, after the massive restrictions in tourism in recent months, it is just as important to welcome guests from international markets to SalzburgerLand and to meet them with typical Austrian hospitality. With this flight connection, guests can now arrive directly in Salzburg and do not have to use the overland route to SalzburgerLand as before. For Salzburg Airport and tourism, this is an important signal for a new start after the considerable economic downturn caused by the pandemic",says Christian Stöckl, Chairman of the Airport Supervisory Board.

„Today we can finally say: Dubai and United Arab Emirates, we come! We are now counting on the Austrians and Germans to strongly book this route, so we can maintain this year-round connection in the future”, says Losmann.

flydubai is an important new partner of Salzburg Airport and its credo is "For us there are no barriers to travel, we offer air travel at affordable prices in a comfortable and flexible atmosphere". When flydubai started operations in 2009, the only idea was to bring more and more people to more and more places. The airline now flies to more than 90 destinations and is constantly adding new destinations to its network. Almost 90 million passengers choose Dubai Airport every year, which is now the third largest airport worldwide.

flydubai becomes the first UAE-based carrier to offer direct flights between Dubai International (DXB) and Salzburg Airport (SZG) with a four weekly flights service.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “With the start of flights to Salzburg we continue to steadily grow our network catering to an increasing demand for travel, as more passengers return to the skies and more countries ease restrictions on international air travel. Since commencing operations in 2009, we have been committed to opening up previously underserved markets and the launch of our operations to Austria demonstrates our continuous efforts to offer more people the opportunity to travel more often while creating free flows of travel, trade, and tourism.”

Emirates will codeshare on these routes and the flights will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB), offering travellers more seamless connections through Dubai’s international aviation hub to 168 destinations between both the Emirates and flydubai networks including Australia, China, Indian Ocean, Japan and South Asia.

Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce at flydubai, added: “With the addition of Salzburg to our network we offer more choice for travel from the UAE and the GCC, while providing passengers from Austria the opportunity to connect onwards to 168  destinations through Dubai’s international travel hub.  Whether customers choose to travel in Business Class or Economy Class they can look forward to the convenience of direct connections as well as a comfortable onboard travel experience as they start their journey.”

About flydubai

From its home in Dubai, flydubai has created a network of more than 95 destinations served by a fleet of 50 aircraft. Since commencing operations in June 2009, flydubai has been committed to removing barriers to travel, creating free flows of trade and tourism and enhancing connectivity between different cultures across its ever-expanding network.

flydubai has marked its journey with a number of milestones

An expanding network: Created a network of more than 95 destinations in 48 countries across Africa, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Central and South-East Europe, the GCC and the Middle East, and the Indian Subcontinent.
Serving underserved markets: Opened more than 70 new routes that did not previously have direct air links to Dubai or were not served by a UAE national carrier from Dubai.
An efficient single fleet-type: Operates a single fleet-type of 50 Boeing 737 aircraft and includes: 36 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800, 13 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 3 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.Enhancing connectivity: Carried more than 75 million passengers since it began operations in 2009.

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