[Corrected] Arabian low-cost carrier (LCC) Flydubai is in talks with Airbus and Boeing over a major order for single-aisle aircraft. The carrier is believed to be looking for up to 50 aircraft, either A320 or 737 family aircraft.
The news came from Flydubai’s chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as he was delivering the carrier’s 2012 results in Dubai Wednesday.
Revenue for Flydubai was AED 2,778 million ($756 million), while net profit reached AED151.9 million. This is the first time the airline—which began operations in 2009 and is wholly owned by the government of Dubai—has released any financial figures and none were available from 2011 for comparative purposes.
Ancillary revenues accounted for 16.5% of total revenues and would continue to be a significant component of the company’s earnings, Sheikh Ahmed said. Flydubai’s added-value services include inflight entertainment, seat preferences, checked baggage allowances, travel insurance and visa facilitation services.
The rapidly expanding airline, whose route network has grown from 25 to 52 destinations over the past two years, carried 5.1 million passengers in 2012.
The LCC operates an all-Boeing 737-800 fleet.
Sheikh Ahmed said it was possible that any new order for aircraft could be announced during the Dubai Air Show, which takes place in November.
ATW understands it has not yet been decided to what extent any new aircraft would replace existing examples or feed further expansion. An order for either the Airbus A320neo or Boeing 737 MAX families would be unlikely to arrive much before the end of the decade, by which time early examples in the current fleet would be approaching the 10-year mark.
atwonline.com
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