DUBAI, UAE / RankWire.AI / – Dubai-based airline flydubai has announced a significant expansion of its flight services across Europe on Wednesday, aiming to meet the rising demand for international travel. Official statements from Emirates News Agency confirmed that flydubai is boosting its operations in Italy by adding more flights to Milan-Bergamo and Naples, thereby strengthening direct connections between the United Arab Emirates and Southern Europe. Under the new schedule, the airline will operate twice daily between Dubai International Airport and Milan-Bergamo Airport starting July 31, 2026. Additionally, the carrier has increased its service to Naples International Airport to a daily frequency, enhancing its presence in major Italian urban centers.
This schedule expansion broadens flydubai’s overall reach in Italy, which already includes three weekly flights to Catania Airport in Sicily and twice-weekly seasonal summer flights to Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport in Sardinia, running until the end of August. Along with more frequent flights, the airline has outlined operational adjustments due to scheduled infrastructure work in Southern Italy. Because of planned maintenance at Naples International Airport, flydubai will temporarily reroute its daily flight from Dubai International Airport to Salerno Costa d’Amalfi and Cilento Airport from November 1 to November 30, 2026. Normal flights to Naples are expected to resume on December 1, 2026, with current bookings automatically transferred to the Salerno route during this period.
Bilateral Trade and Tourism Growth Driven by New Flight Routes
The new routes to Milan-Bergamo and Naples are operated under the existing codeshare agreement between flydubai and the international flag carrier Emirates. This partnership enables passengers to enjoy integrated travel plans, unified ticketing, synchronized schedules, and through-checked baggage services across both networks. Leveraging Dubai’s central hub, travelers connecting from Italian airports can access extensive long-haul destinations across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, including direct flights to Kenya, Oman, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Zanzibar.
This capacity expansion aligns with broader trends in commercial aviation within the Middle East and Europe, where international passenger traffic has been steadily increasing post-pandemic. The rise in flight frequencies supports growing bilateral trade, investment, and leisure tourism between the United Arab Emirates and Italy. Increasing frequencies to Milan-Bergamo offer more seats for business travelers heading to Italy’s key financial and industrial hub, while daily flights to Southern Italy cater to the growing seasonal demand among tourists visiting cultural landmarks along the Amalfi Coast.
Regarding the network expansion, flydubai’s CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith stated that Naples and Milan have become crucial entry points within the airline’s European network. He emphasized that maintaining consistent regional access remains a priority, along with a long-term commitment to improving connectivity to less-served markets. Al Ghaith also noted that market data shows flydubai’s increased operations in Italy with strategic frequency increases designed to handle the growing passenger flow between the UAE and Italy, especially as travel volume accelerates during the upcoming winter season.
Boost in Flight Frequency to Strengthen Connections to Milan and Naples
Discussing commercial operations, Jeyhun Efendi, the Divisional Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations and E-commerce at flydubai, highlighted that the additional direct flights to Naples and Milan-Bergamo underscore the importance of the Italian market to the airline’s strategic plans. He explained that non-stop services allow passengers to make use of the combined reach of flydubai and Emirates for seamless access to prominent global destinations through Dubai. The airline’s commercial leadership confirmed that fleet plans and operational teams are prepared to manage the increased daily flight volume, ensuring high reliability across both passenger and cargo services.
These operational upgrades in Italy are part of flydubai’s ongoing fleet expansion and international network development. As the airline continues to receive modern narrow-body aircraft, plans are underway to further increase frequencies on high-demand European routes. The extended Italian flight schedules reinforce Dubai’s role as a global aviation hub, facilitating smooth passenger and freight movements between European origins and expanding destinations across the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and East Africa.