The United Arab Emirates-based carrier flydubai will fly to five new destinations including three in India thereby doubling its network in the Asian country.

The three new flydubai destinations in India are Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvanananthapuram.

Kazakhstan will join flydubai’s network for the first time and flights will launch later this year to two destinations Almaty and Shymkent.

Ghaith al-Ghaith, flydubai Chief Executive Officer said: “As flydubai approaches its fifth year of operation it has created a network of some 74 destinations in 35 countries. Today’s route announcements are a clear demonstration of the important role we are playing in the development of the tourism industry and there remains much opportunity. Our commitment to further strengthen the trade, travel and tourism links in the region by opening up previously underserved markets supports The Dubai Tourism Vision 2020.”

flydubai’s rapid expansion plans continue to focus on destinations within a five-hour flying radius from Dubai.

Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvanananthapuram join Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Lucknow to make India the third largest country that flydubai operates to by number of points.

Sudhir Sreedharan, flydubai senior vice president Commercial (GCC, Subcontinent, Africa) said: “We are delighted to be given the opportunity to better serve the Indian market. India has always been an important market for flydubai. Since the start of our operations in 2010, flydubai’s main priority has been to offer passengers convenient and reliable travel services and an unrivalled onboard experience.”

Another market that has become important to flydubai’s network is Russia and last year the airline doubled its network to eight points. flydubai has now become the largest operator out of the UAE to Russia by number of destinations since it marked its first entry to the market in 2010 with the start of flights to Samara and Yekaterinburg.

Jeyhun Efendi, flydubai senior vice president Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) said: “With flydubai’s daily direct flights to Moscow scheduled to start in September 2014, I am pleased to announce that our flights will operate to Vnukovo International Airport and flights are now available for sale. Moreover, our flights to Kazakhstan will give passengers more opportunity to discover this market which offers great potential for trade and tourism.”

These announcements bring the total number of new destinations flydubai announced since the start of the year to nine. Hofuf in Saudi Arabia, Moscow in Russia, Aden in Yemen and Kandahar in Afghanistan were the latest additions to the airline’s expanding network.