UAE’s flydubai in talks over new fleet order

All-Boeing operator flydubai (FZ, Dubai Int’l) has held initial talks with both Boeing and Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) about its next jet order, according to Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al-Ghaith.

In an interview with Bloomberg at the Dubai Airshow 2021, he said: “We’re in dialogue with Airbus and Boeing about new orders.” He added the negotiations were preliminary and that there would be no deal until the timing was right.

The sister company of Emirates (EK, Dubai Int’l) is reviewing its fleet plans with demand recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. flydubai will take delivery of thirty-three B737 MAX from June 2022 through the end of next year while retiring 10 or 12 older B737 models. It had scrapped an order for 65 B737 MAX after deliveries were halted following two fatal crashes involving the type.

The airline turned cash positive as early as November 2020 and has surpassed pre-pandemic levels in terms of passenger numbers and aircraft movements, Al-Ghaith said. The recovery has been led by markets such as Russia, where it serves 11 destinations, with demand from nearby Gulf states still subdued amid ongoing travel restrictions.

“We put a lot of flights into places that we think will bring tourists,” he said. “It’s the start of a bigger recovery that will continue into next year and beyond.” He added that although Gulf markets were still less than halfway back, there was evidence of high pent-up demand.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, flydubai currently has a fleet of thirty-two B737-800s, eighteen B737-8s (with 115 on order), and three B737-9s. It also has fifty B737-10s on order.