Aeroflot vs flydubai to Dubai — which airline reroutes instead of cancelling when airspace is closed?
Based on 2 discussions with 2 participants · Last activity: 3 days ago
Based on 2 discussions with 2 participants · Last activity: 3 days ago
TL;DR
Aeroflot uses wide-body long-haul jets on the Dubai route with extra fuel range — during threats they reroute around danger zones, roughly doubling flight time but still landing. Flydubai's fuel-efficient medium-haul planes can't extend range without refueling, so they tend to cancel flights outright instead of rerouting.
Aeroflot typically flies wide-body long-haul aircraft on the Dubai route even though it's a medium-haul distance — less fuel-efficient, but capable of rerouting around danger zones even if flight time nearly doubles. Flydubai uses genuinely medium-haul, fuel-efficient jets that can't physically extend range without refueling, so if there's a problem they're more likely to cancel the flight than detour.
Check the aircraft type for your specific flight and compare departure times across airlines: sometimes flights are listed under different carriers but are physically the same plane (codeshare-like practice). Flydubai doesn't do this, but it's common with other airlines.
An emergency landing at an intermediate airport (e.g. Samara) costs money and needs to be arranged in advance — it can't be done same-day except in a genuine emergency. Aeroflot instead just carries extra fuel and flies around the conflict zone without an intermediate stop.
In Russia's Krasnodar region, drone threats sometimes mean passengers are boarded onto the plane and then taken back off — the flight gets held right before departure.