Flydubai Adds Mykonos, Santorini to Summer Schedule

A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft bearing the logo of flydubai is parked at a Boeing production facility in Renton, Washington, US March 11, 2019. Reuters
A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft bearing the logo of flydubai is parked at a Boeing production facility in Renton, Washington, US March 11, 2019. Reuters
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Flydubai Adds Mykonos, Santorini to Summer Schedule

A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft bearing the logo of flydubai is parked at a Boeing production facility in Renton, Washington, US March 11, 2019. Reuters
A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft bearing the logo of flydubai is parked at a Boeing production facility in Renton, Washington, US March 11, 2019. Reuters

Flydubai has announced the launch of two new summer routes. The Dubai-based carrier will operate three weekly flights to Mykonos International Airport (JMK) and Santorini (Thira) Airport (JTR) between June 18 and September 29.

The launch of flights to the two Greek islands brings the number of seasonal routes served by flydubai to six destinations including Bodrum and Trabzon in Turkey, Batumi in Georgia and Tivat in Montenegro, it said.

“We are excited to grow our network and give passengers more options to travel this summer. Demand for travel has started to increase as more countries gradually lift restrictions on international travel.

The UAE has recently added Bahrain, Greece and Serbia to the safe travel list which has encouraged more people to start planning their summer holidays. Mykonos and Santorini will be popular choices for travel from the UAE and GCC,” said Chief Executive Officer at flydubai Ghaith Al Ghaith.

A safe travel corridor between the UAE and Greece has opened for fully vaccinated travelers to move between the two countries from May 18. Under the agreement, passengers holding vaccination certificates issued by health authorities can travel to Greece without having to quarantine on arrival. The same rule applies for travelers flying from Greece to the UAE.

Commenting on the announcement, Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce at flydubai, said: “We are pleased to offer our passengers convenient travel options this summer to some of the most popular holiday spots.”

“Whether flying in Business or Economy Class or opting to purchase a flexible holiday package that includes flights, hotels stay and other add ons, flydubai is committed to making travel this summer more flexible and a little less stressful,” he added.



Saudi Arabia's Net Foreign Direct Investment Rises 5.6% in First Quarter

A view shows buildings and the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 1, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser/File photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A view shows buildings and the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 1, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser/File photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Saudi Arabia's Net Foreign Direct Investment Rises 5.6% in First Quarter

A view shows buildings and the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 1, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser/File photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A view shows buildings and the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 1, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser/File photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Saudi Arabia rose 5.6% to 9.5 billion riyals ($2.53 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, government data showed on Sunday.

Inflows were up 0.6% to 17 billion riyals in the first three months compared with a year earlier, while outflows fell by 5.1% to about 7.5 billion riyals.

The kingdom hopes to attract $100 billion in FDI by 2030 to boost non-oil gross domestic product, Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, over half of the shares offered under Saudi Aramco's $11.2 billion secondary share sale were sold to foreign investors.

The oil giant has also helped lift FDI previously, but even with those deals FDI remained far from the 2030 goal, peaking at $32.8 billion in 2022 and reaching $19.2 billion last year.