The airline's touchdown in the city of Lucknow, in north east India, meant the hundreds of thousands of tourists and Indian expatriates in the UAE had another option for safe, quality, affordable travel to the Indian sub-continent, a company spokesman said.

FZ433 took off on time from Dubai International Airport's Terminal 2 at 10.30pm Wednesday, arriving at Lucknow Airport at 1.50am local time yesterday morning.

Lucknow is considered to be a financial, manufacturing and education hub, and is the second largest city in north, east and central India.

The flydubai airline will fly direct to Lucknow three times a week.

Affordable

UAE Ambassador Mohammad Sultan Al Owais said: "It is important for both the UAE and India that we increase the number of safe, affordable, quality air travel options that connect our countries. flydubai is an excellent airline, committed to the highest standards of safety, training and maintenance, with a brand new fleet of one of the industry's safest and most reliable aircraft".

"Bilateral trade (non-oil) between India and the UAE was worth $48.3 billion in 2008-9, an increase of 65.8 per cent over the previous year, which shows the growing importance of relations between our two nations," Al Owais said.

"Increasing the transport links between India and the UAE can only help to strengthen the economic and commercial ties between us.

"I am confident flydubai will provide an excellent service to the people travelling between Dubai and Lucknow.

"We look forward to the airline being able to expand services to other Indian cities in the future."

Flydubai CEO Gaith Al Gaith, who was aboard the Wednesday night flight, said: "After much anticipation, we are thrilled to make our first entry into India with the start of flights to Lucknow".

"We are thankful for the support we have received from the Indian authorities to make these flights possible," he said.

Source: Gulf News