Flydubai will expand its East Africa network with a new daily direct flight to Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, from March 9.

The carrier will double the frequency of flights from June 1, making it the first carrier to connect Somalia directly with Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

Hamad Obaidalla, FlyDubai Chief Commercial Officer, said the airline continued to look for opportunities to grow the East Africa network and open up under-served markets. “This region has seen significant economic growth and development in recent years. Our direct flights will further stimulate the economy and help create free flows of travel and trade.”

Flight FZ637 will depart Dubai at 12h00 and arrive in Mogadishu at 15h30. The return flight FZ638 will depart Mogadishu at 16h30 and arrive in Dubai at 22h25.

From June 1, the additional flight, FZ609 will depart Dubai at 08h00 and arrive at 11h20. Flight FZ610 will depart Mogadishu at 12h20 and arrive at 18h10.

With the start of its Mogadishu flights, Flydubai will fly to 11 destinations in Africa – Alexandria, Djibouti and Khartoum (from 2009), Addis Ababa (2011), Juba (2013), Dar es Salaam, Entebbe and Zanzibar (2014), and Asmara and Hargeisa (2015).

This route will be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.