Flydubai Restores One Of Gulf’s Busiest Routes With New Dubai-Doha Service

One of the Middle East’s traditionally busiest routes will soon be restored after flydubai announced it will resume double daily flights between Dubai and Doha from 26 January.

“Flights to Doha will start from 26 January and to meet expected demand we are pleased to launch operations with a double daily service,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO at flydubai. “We hope to be able to continue to grow the service.”

flydubai became the first low-cost carrier to operate between Dubai and Doha in 2009, establishing a highly popular service. It could be a while however before flydubai increases frequencies on its new Doha route, with air travel demand still well below pre-COVID levels.

Etihad on Wednesday announced that it will resume flights to Qatar from 15 February, following a statement from Sharjah-based Air Arabia last week declaring that it would relaunch service to Doha.

The UAE’s other airlines, Emirates and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, are yet to announce flights to Qatar following the Al Ula Accord signed earlier this month, ending a three-year dispute with Doha.

Qatar Airways is also reportedly preparing to resume flights to Dubai from 27 January and Abu Dhabi a day later. The airline is yet to make an official announcement but is advertising the flights on its website.

According to data collated by marketing technology firm Sojern, global flight searches to Qatar have spiked by more than 70%since the Al Ula Accord peace deal was signed.

After the UAE cut ties with Qatar in 2017, the quickest flight between Dubai and Doha was five hours long and included a stop-off. Now the direct journey can be completed in around 45 minutes.