The Dubai-based airline Flydubai is allowing bookings on its website from June 5, after announcing that it had suspended passenger operations until June 4 as part of the precautionary measures being implemented in response to COVID-19.
Since a directive to suspend passenger flights issued by the General Civil Aviation Authority came into effect on March 24, the airline concentrated its efforts on repatriation flights and enabling the movement of essential goods.
A statement from the carrier said that Flydubai Cargo operated 276 flights to 26 countries, utilising six of the carrier’s Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which have been allocated to operate as all-cargo flights.
The carrier also obtained government approvals to operate 90 special repatriation flights for 12,532 passengers to return to 19 countries that included Sudan, Thailand and the UK.
Passenger services look set to resume to certain destinations from June 5. The airline’s website shows bookings available for multiple destinations, including to Muscat/Oman, Baku/Azerbaijan, Salalah/Oman, Bahrain, Tblisi/Georgia, Dushanbe/Tajikistan and Amman/Jordan.
Should a flight be cancelled, passengers can request a refund in the form of a flydubai voucher, valid for 12 months, or the possibility to rebook free of charge to travel up to 60 days from the original date of travel. If the passenger chooses to rebook more than 60 days from the original date of travel, a difference in fare will apply.