THE world’s fastest growing start-up airline, flydubai has doubled its fleet to 18 aircraft in just one year as part of an order for 50 planes placed in 2008.
As the budget carrier prepares to launch new routes across the CIS region this month, chief executive GHAITH AL GHAITH spoke to LIZ O’REILLY about the airline’s beginnings and what’s in store for the future.
What was the reasoning behind the launch?
flydubai was created to support the needs of commerce and tourism in the UAE by allowing more people to travel to more destinations more often. Announced by the government of Dubai in March 2008, the vision for the airline was to provide a low-cost alternative on what were already popular routes, such as Beirut and Kuwait, as well as to open up destinations that were underserved by direct air links to the UAE, such as Baku, Azerbaijan.
The idea for a low-cost airline had been in the pipeline for several years but capacity at Dubai International Airport prevented flydubai from launching until it had expanded and Terminal 3 opened. Today, thanks to our base here in Dubai, we have been successful in bringing together the best in industry expertise, cutting edge operational systems and world-class service, while providing passengers with a value-for-money travel option. We focus on destinations within our flying range of 5,500km and within this radius we are able to serve 2.5 billion people or one-third of the world’s population.
How were the initial routes chosen?
As I mentioned above - we operate within a flying range of 5,500km. Our first three flights were to Beirut, Amman and Damascus – strong tourist, commercial and business destinations within the Middle East. In addition to starting operations to established destinations that need extra capacity, such as Beirut and Kuwait, flydubai has forged new trends that encompass:
• New destinations that did not previously have international flights, such as Abha, Gassim and Yanbu in Saudi Arabia and Port Sudan;
• Direct links to emerging destinations like Yekaterinburg and Samara in Russia and Ashgabat, Turkmenistan for the first time and
• It is also the first low-cost carrier to start operations to destinations such as Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Yerevan, Armenia, and Baku, Azerbaijan.
Currently, we have an operational network of 38 destinations and have announced new flights to Ahmedabad in India (starting August 27), Kazan (starting September 14) and Ufa (starting September 17) in Russia as well as Kiev, Kharkov (starting September 16) and Donetsk (starting September 17) in Ukraine.
What is the primary market? Is it mainly business travellers or does the airline also attract leisure guests?
We offer affordable and convenient travel options to both business and leisure travellers. While many of our destinations are up and coming economic hubs in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, a large percentage of our passengers to these cities are corporate travellers. However, on a parallel, the leisure and holiday segment is particularly strong across routes such as Beirut, Baku, Colombo and Kathmandu. Additionally, with most flights being less than five hours, many destinations are ideal as weekend getaways.
flydubai has witnessed major growth. Is this through serving a previously uncatered for segment of the market or is the airline attracting customers away from more traditional competitors or both?
There had been a need for a low cost airline in Dubai for many years, but due to the constraints outlined above, it was not possible until just a few years ago. Since we began operations, flydubai has had a positive impact in many of our destinations, helping to grow overall passenger traffic in the first 12 months of operation (June 2009-June 2010) with the Beirut market growing by 33 per cent, Damascus by 39 per cent, Amman by 40 per cent and Egypt by 22 per cent overall.
There is enough capacity for all well run airlines to thrive in this market and the healthy state of the regional aviation industry is testament to the fact that network airlines are growing despite our presence. We have carved our niche simply by catering to a need for a quality, value-based product for short-haul travel.
What are the plans for the future?
In terms of new locations, we are constantly looking to enter new markets and connect Dubai to more destinations. In September, we will be the first Middle East carrier to have direct flights to the Ukrainian destinations of Donetsk and Kharkov as well as Ufa and Kazan in Russia. This is particularly exciting for us as Kazan will host matches during the FIFA 2018 World Cup and Donetsk will be the location for three group matches, quarter-final and semi-final matches during the UEFA European Cup 2012. We are also interested in launching operations to more destinations across India.
In terms of aircraft, we placed an order for 50 Boeing 737-800 NGs at the 2008 Farnborough Airshow and we will take delivery of our 21st aircraft by the end of the year. In tandem, we have also launched a recruitment drive to find 600 new pilots over the next five years for our rapidly expanding fleet.
We are also constantly looking to improve efficiency and have adopted cutting-edge technology which will drive flydubai to a more sustainable operations model.
What do you see as the future of the budget sector generally?
Low cost travel is coming into its own in the region and I firmly believe it will continue to grow at a dramatic rate. This segment currently accounts for seven per cent of total airline traffic in the region, compared to 35 per cent in Europe, so there is tremendous potential for growth.
At flydubai, we have balanced quality with cost-effectiveness and it’s a proposition that is gaining a lot of interest. The fact that between June 2010 and May 2011, we saw a 78 per cent increase in the number of flights, a 100 per cent increase in aircraft, a 150 per cent increase in routes and a 200 per cent increase in passengers puts our growth into perspective and we are looking forward to many more excellent years ahead.