flydubai has underscored the growing importance of the CIS region to its operations by announcing it will double its network in Russia to eight points and add additional services in Ukraine.

In Russia, the carrier will launch flights to Mineralnye Vody on April 16th 2013 followed by Rostov-on-Don and Volgograd on September 13th 2013.

Operations to Krasnodar, meanwhile, will commence a week later on September 20th 2013.

flydubai offers the only year-round direct scheduled services to these cities, which are all located in South West Russia.

The route map in Ukraine, meanwhile, will also expand to include the only direct services from Dubai to the Black Sea resort of Odessa as well as Dnepropetrovsk in the east of the country.

Flights to Odessa will begin on September 15th 2013, the same day the carrier adds capacity to the capital, Kiev, to which it will fly double daily.

Services to Dnepropetrovsk will begin on September 18th 2013.

These additional operations bring flydubai’s network to 18 points in the CIS region – more than any other Middle East carrier.

Speaking at a press conference held during the annual Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition, flydubai chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “Russia and Ukraine are two of flydubai’s key markets.

“We have seen steady passenger growth over the past couple of years in both countries.

“Not only is Dubai a popular destination, but we are seeing more and more passengers connecting on to flydubai’s services to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

“Our strategy of targeting regional airports has been a significant factor in our growth in the region and with the announcements of these six new routes today, a greater number of people will be able to visit the UAE and beyond with our affordable direct flights.”