The first scheduled commercial flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv receives a warm welcome
The first scheduled commercial flight operated by flydubai from Dubai International (DXB) landed at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) on Thursday 26 November at 11:35 to a water salute. The inaugural flight was flown by Captain Patrick Gonzenbach and Emirati First Officer, Abdulla Al Shamsi.
On board the aircraft was a delegation led by Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai. They were met on arrival by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with a delegation that included the CEO of Ben Gurion International Airport Shmuel Zakay and representatives from the aviation industry.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “Today’s inaugural flight sees the air transport agreement realised. The creation of these direct air links will support the development of commercial ventures across a number of sectors helping to drive success and prosperity. We look forward to welcoming the first passengers from Israel as they come to explore the UAE.”
Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce, said, “Since we announced the launch of operations to Tel Aviv we have seen strong demand for services from both Israel and the UAE. We received our first bookings from both tourists and business travellers shortly after the schedule was published. There is opportunity to further grow our double daily service.”
Its extended codeshare partnership with Emirates offers travellers more seamless connections through Dubai’s international aviation hub to 155 destinations between both the Emirates and flydubai networks including Australia, China, Indian Ocean, Japan, South Asia and the United States.
flydubai offers convenient and reliable travel services. Passengers will have the option to experience Business Class enjoying space and privacy in the cabin, a comfortable spacious seat, inflight entertainment with films and TV shows available to watch and a range of dining options. Kosher meals are available to pre-order. Passengers will also benefit from a priority check-in service at Terminal 3, Dubai International.
Passengers travelling in Economy Class will enjoy a Recaro designed seat offering optimal levels of space and comfort in the air during the less than four-hour flight. flydubai continues to roll-out WiFi across its fleet enabling passengers to stay connected during their flight and can browse the web, send emails, use social networks and get the latest news. Passengers are able to choose between bundled (Flex/Value) or unbundled (Lite) fares depending on their travel needs.
Dubai is one of the world’s leading tourism destinations and is well known for its luxury hotels, shopping malls, the skyscraper Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure in the world, as well as its clean beaches and desert landscapes. It is also an international events hub and there is an opportunity to enjoy live entertainment, lifestyle and sports activities.
flydubai’s passenger experience has been redesigned to enable travel in a safe environment that minimises crew and passenger contact and more information is available on flydubai.com.
Passengers are required to make sure that they are up to date with the regulations from the IATA Travel Centre for their whole journey and follow the guidance issued by the authorities and the airline.
Emirates Skywards is a shared loyalty programme for both Emirates and flydubai customers offering members greater convenience and simplicity with one loyalty currency and a single metric for earning and redeeming Miles.
Holidays by flydubai Packages
Affordable packages available from Holidays by flydubai starting from AED 2,580 per person from Dubai and $665 for packages from Tel Aviv. This includes return flights in Economy and three nights accommodation in four star hotels.
To know more about Holidays by flydubai, please visit: https://holidays.flydubai.com/en/
In addition, flydubai offers a range of partner services to passengers including home check-in and belt pick-up services, meet and greet services, holiday packages and car hire all at preferential rates.
Flight schedule and fares
Return Business Class fares start from DXB to TLV are 6,000 AED and Economy Class fares are 1,600 AED.
Return Business Class fares start from TLV to DXB are 1,600 USD and Economy Class fares are 360 USD.
Flight number | Departure Airport | Time of departure | Arrival Airport | Time of arrival | |||||
FZ 1163 | DXB | 09:40 | TLV | 11:35 | |||||
FZ 1164 | TLV | 12:35 | DXB | 17:45 | |||||
FZ 1627 | DXB | 22:00 | TLV | 23:55 | |||||
FZ 1628 | TLV | 00:55 | DXB | 06:05 |
Flight times and fares are available from flydubai.com.
About flydubai
From its home in Dubai, flydubai has created a network of more than 90 destinations and over the next decade the airline will see its fleet grow by up to 236 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 that represent the scale of the ambition planned for the airline:
- An expanding network: Created a network of more than 90 destinations in 48 countries across Africa, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, the GCC, the Middle East, and the Indian Subcontinent. Now operating to 40 destinations.
- Serving underserved markets: Opened up 65 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 51 Boeing 737 aircraft.
- Record-breaking orders: Placed the largest single-aisle aircraft orders in the region at the 2013 and 2017 editions of the Dubai Airshow.
- Enhancing connectivity: Carried more than 75 million passengers since it began operations in 2009.