Dubai-based flydubai recorded sustained growth in passenger numbers since the beginning of the year, carrying almost five million passengers between January 1 and April 28, a 13 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
The growth was supported by additional capacity across its network. The airline has built an expanding network of more than 125 destinations in 58 countries. More than 90 of these routes did not have direct air links to Dubai or were not served by a UAE national carrier from Dubai.
Expanding network
Since the start of 2024, flydubai has started operations to Al Jouf, Langkawi, Mombasa, Penang and The Red Sea. The carrier has also announced the further expansion of its network in Europe with the launch of flights to Basel, Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius. With the start of its seasonal summer operations between June and October, the carrier’s network spans more than 125 destinations in 58 countries.
Read: flydubai reports record profits of $572 million in 2023
Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO at flydubai, said: “flydubai continues to consistently grow its network and I am pleased to see our operations grow further in South-East Asia with the addition of Malaysia as well as the ongoing expansion in the African and European markets in particular. The added capacity has seen more passengers travel with us since the beginning of this year even though this growth has been dampened by the ongoing delays in aircraft deliveries. We are still on track for one of the busiest summers on record with the start of the seasonal summer schedule from June. Our focus for the coming few months is the ambitious retrofit project across the fleet which will ensure an elevated and more consistent onboard experience for our customers.”
Growing fleet
Two new aircraft joined the flydubai fleet since the start of 2024, growing its fleet to 86 Boeing 737 aircraft, with six more aircraft expected to be delivered by the end of the year.
flydubai’s fleet consists of 29 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800, 54 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and three Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. The carrier has launched a retrofit project that will see a complete upgrade of the cabin interior for the majority of its Next-Generation Boeing fleet.
Retrofit programme
The airline’s multi-million dollar retrofit project was launched in January 2024. So far eight aircraft have had a full cabin refresh with the installation of the carrier’s flagship lie-flat Business Class seats and the new economy seats. All the retrofitted aircraft will be equipped with Inflight Entertainment and will ensure a more cohesive and consistent travel experience for passengers across the fleet. The airline will retain an all-economy configuration on some of its aircraft.
As part of its investment in enhancing its onboard experience, the airline will also increase the seat pitch on its recliner Business Class seat product on some of its newer aircraft from 45 to 53 inches. This project will be rolled out after the summer and is predominantly designed to offer a more comfortable travel experience on shorter to medium-haul flights around the region.
The target is to complete the retrofit programme before the end of the year and the ambitious project is being carried out by both flydubai’s inhouse maintenance team and GMR Aerotech MRO.
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