Dubai-based flydubai has announced that it will continue to focus its efforts on supporting government requests with repatriation flights and enabling the movement of essential goods across its network and beyond.

The carrier said that more than 12,532 passengers were able to return to their homes across 19 countries in collaboration of embassies and government authorities.

These repatriation flights were operated to Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Croatia, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Somaliland, Sudan, Thailand and the United Kingdom, flydubai said in an announcement.

Since the directive came into effect on 24th March 2020, the carrier has enabled the movement of more than 1,651,929 kgs of perishables, medical supplies, express courier and essential goods. flydubai Cargo operated 101 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.

In line with the updated Notice to Airmen, NOTAM, issued by the General Civil Aviation Authority, GCAA, flydubai’s passenger operation remains suspended until Thursday 4th June 2020 as part of the precautionary measures being implemented in response to COVID-19.

Hamad Obaidalla, Chief Commercial Officer at flydubai, said, “Air cargo operations will continue to be our focus over the next few weeks. We have been working closely with our strategic partners enabling flydubai to transport cargo seamlessly to where it is needed the most, while adhering to the safety standards set by the industry and the World Health Organisation, WHO.”

flydubai Cargo is maximizing its cargo capacity by transporting goods in the cargo hold on repatriation flights as well. The carrier obtained government approvals to operate 90 special repatriation flights over the past few weeks.

The budget airline further stated that while it will continue to operate more cargo-only flights during this period, repatriation flights will be subject to government approvals and passengers are encouraged to check directly with their embassies for more information as well as flydubai.com.

flydubai received over 187,000 enquiries since March and has allocated a dedicated team to support with customer care. The carrier has not cancelled all flights in its schedule and the cancellations are being made in line with the published NOTAMs.