Dubai-based flydubai continues to support governments and authorities across its network with their repatriation efforts helping them to make arrangements for their citizens to return home. The carrier has operated 23 repatriation flights carrying more than 2,800 passengers from the United Arab Emirates between March 19 and April 8, 2020. These repatriation flights operated to Afghanistan, Croatia, Egypt, Iran, Russia, Sudan, Somaliland and Thailand with the approval of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the Civil Aviation Authorities of the respective countries as well as the Ministries of Foreign Affairs. Operating from Terminal 2 at Dubai International (DXB), these flights carried only passengers outbound from the UAE, while nationals of the UAE were able to travel on the return sector. flydubai transported essential goods in the belly-hold of its passenger aircraft in both directions, supporting trade and the transport of medical supplies across its network during these unprecedented times. Hamad Obaidalla, chief commercial officer of flydubai, said: "we acknowledge the challenges we are all facing in dealing with this pandemic and the impact it will have not only on our industry, but also on our livelihood and how we do things moving forward. We choose to remain focused on how we can contribute to easing the strain, enabling the movement of essential goods to where they are needed and bringing people back home where possible. We remain committed to supporting requests from governments to operate repatriation flights for their citizens. We look forward to resuming our operations when the time is right and we are working closely with the authorities. The safety of our passengers and everyone at flydubai will always be our priority." The carrier will operate up to ten more repatriation flights over the next week and continues to coordinate closely with the authorities on bringing UAE nationals home free of charge. flydubai is following the directives issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the local health authorities. The airline has a thorough enhanced cleaning and disinfection process in place for all its aircraft. flydubai will continue to work closely with our strategic partners to ensure that all safety measures are in place and in line with international standards. — SG
