Flydubai’s Chief Executive Officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said, “Flydubai has expanded to employ over 5,800 highly qualified individuals from 140 different countries, with over 1,200 of them being pilots. By the end of this year, we plan to have hired over 130 new pilots.”

Al Ghaith stated that the airline has more than 440 workers this year, a 6% increase from the previous one. According to him, there is a continuous recruitment drive to bolster the team with more talented and competent employees and foster the expansion of the business.

As part of its commitment to nurturing local talent, flydubai has attracted more UAE Nationals over the past two years, who assumed various roles across the organisation. The venture is also offering apprenticeship opportunities in various departments, including engineering, as well as special programmes for UAE national pilots and employees in other departments to support future growth opportunities.

“With our headquarters in Dubai, flydubai has expanded to service over 125 locations in 58 countries with a modern, effective fleet of 88 Boeing 737 aircraft,” Al Ghaith said.

He emphasised flydubai’s continued ability to draw in young Emirati talent and their dedication to hiring locals and advancing Emiratization initiatives by assigning them to appropriate positions in various corporate divisions.

At the Dubai Airshow in 2023, flydubai placed a historic order for 30 Boeing 787-9s, its first-ever wide-body aircraft.

Additionally, the airline unveiled plans to establish new maintenance and training facilities, to enhance efficiencies and positively impact its bottom line. The airline, as of July 2024, operates a young fleet of 88 Boeing 737 aircraft, serving a network of more than 125 destinations across 58 countries.

Flydubai has been in the news. After having signed a reciprocal codeshare partnership with Emirates recently, which will commence in October 2024, the Dubai-based carrier signed a reciprocal interline agreement with Condor at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Dubai, held in June 2024.

Condor passengers will benefit from additional connecting flights from Dubai to destinations such as Malaysia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand and many other locations in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. Passengers will be able to travel on a single ticket fare and their baggage will be checked through to their final destination on all connecting flights operated by Condor and flydubai.

During the signing of the reciprocal interline agreement, Condor CEO Peter Gerber said, “By expanding our partnerships, we are providing our customers with even better connections to other destinations around the globe. Flydubai is another important partner for reaching 22 worldwide destinations via the Dubai hub. Our guests will benefit from even more choice and a consistently state-of-the-art product throughout their entire journey. Additionally, Condor flights to and from Berlin will be bookable for flydubai passengers.”

Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, told the media during the occasion, “We are pleased to partner with Condor and to offer more passengers a convenient and reliable travel experience on board our flights. Since 2009, we have remained committed to enhancing connectivity and creating free flows of trade and tourism, and with this new partnership, we look forward to offering Condor’s passengers the opportunity to explore the flydubai network.”

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Air Arabia in the past few days has reconsidered the number of flights to Saudi Arabia, similar to what Fly Dubai did. There are already plans for flights to India while flights to Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco will be the top priority.

On the other hand, Air Arabia’s joint venture carrier in Abu Dhabi will soon be scaling up its India-bound services. It is quite evident that Saudi Arabia is one of the markets for UAE’s airlines.

Air Arabia recently stated that it will soon resume direct flights from Sharjah to four different cities — Taif, Al Jouf, Gassim, and Hail. In addition to this, Air Arabia will also fly to 11 other cities in Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on the development, the spokesman for the low-cost carrier said, “Passengers will enjoy flying directly from Sharjah International Airport to these cities, where frequencies will increase during summer.”

Fly Dubai will resume its flights to Ha’il and Tabuk starting May 9. Fly Dubai is also the first UAE airline to launch flights to AiUia, it is close to Saudi Arabia’s UNESCO World Heritage site, Hegra.

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These flights are scheduled to operate between April 14 to April 22. flydubai is a budget carrier in the UAE. The airline announced it repatriation flights to help stranded passengers return to their respective countries.

The airline said on its website “In light of the recent flight restrictions imposed by various countries, at flydubai we are working round-the-clock to help you travel back home safely. We would like to announce that residents and visitors from selected destinations…who are currently in the UAE can now fly back to their home countries on special repatriation flights.”

Residents and visitors in the UAE can return back to Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan through this special repatriation service, media reports said. flydubai’s repatriation flights will only carry citizens of those countries. All flights are expected to operate from Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 2.

Another flight offering a similar service is Etihad Airways. Eithad had also announced that its repatriation flights will carry back residents and visitors back to their respective countries. Eithad Airways’ special passenger flights will include destinations such as Brussels, Dublin, London Heathrow, Tokyo Narita and Zurich, media reports said.

Etihad Airways has resumed its special passenger flights from Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 until April 22, media reports said.

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The airline has already leased four old models of 37-800 jets between December 14 and January 25. Boeing has informed airlines and suppliers of the aircraft’s new costing. According to the US planemaker, the MAX will rebound to service as a high priority. Boeing aims to get the MAX back into service before October this year. 

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research told the Khaleej Times that the airline requires a better capacity to meet demand and generate revenue. Flydubai said in a statement that, “We are looking at short- to medium-term leasing options to add more capacity for the coming few months. The discussions with Boeing regarding compensation are ongoing.” 

Previously, the airline had alerted that its operations might fall to 2014 levels if Boeing does not return to service within a reasonable period. Flydubai’s order for 250 MAX jets is the second largest for the Boeing model after Southwest, a media report said. Southwest is a major American airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas. 

Flydubai and Emirates commence their third year strategic partnership to strengthen Dubai’s position as a leading global aviation hub. Since October 2017, more than 5.27 million passengers have benefitted from Emirates and Flydubai partnership, a media report said. Emirates passengers have access to 94 destinations on the Flydubai network, while Flydubai passengers can access 143 Emirates destinations. 

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The new partner network, through its codeshare, will offer greater frequency and easier access to more global destinations with the advantage of connecting baggage to the final destination.  Passengers can book from 3rd October on Emirates website, through the Emirates Contact Centres or the travel agents network with travel commencing from 29 October 2017.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group and Chairman of flydubai, said, “This is an exciting first step in unlocking the benefits of the partnership for passengers who will have the opportunity to enjoy the unique advantages each airline offers as well as greater choice and flexibility when connecting via Dubai. This is just the start and as we expand the partner network in the coming months we will open up more opportunities for our passengers to explore the world.”

Throughout the customer journey Emirates and flydubai will deliver a product experience reflective of their unique brand characteristics.  When booked together, as part of the codeshare, Emirates passengers will receive complimentary meals and the Emirates checked baggage allowance on flights operated by flydubai in both Business and Economy Classes.

Connecting in Dubai’s aviation hub offers a smooth transfer experience and under the new partnership passengers will benefit from a reduced minimum connection time (MCT) between Emirates’ home in Terminal 3 and flydubai’s in Terminal 2 of 120 minutes.

Today’s announcement is an initial phase of the extensive agreement that will, in future phases, see the creation of additional city pair connections as the codeshare agreement is expanded and both airlines’ networks are optimised.

More benefits for frequent flyers

In this first phase of the partnership, Emirates Skywards members can earn Skywards miles and Skywards Tier Miles on codeshare flights as per the existing Skywards mileage programme.

In addition to the Emirates free checked baggage allowance, Skywards Premium members can also enjoy their extra checked baggage allowances of 20kg (Platinum members), 16kg (Gold members) and 12kg (Silver members) on codeshare flights operated by flydubai.

Skywards Silver, Gold and Platinum members travelling on codeshare flights can access flydubai’s Business Check-in counters and receive priority tags.

Further benefits for members of each airlines’ frequent flyer and loyalty programmes will be announced in due course.

Emirates and flydubai partnership codeshare destinations 

• Asmara (Eritrea)
• Belgrade (Serbia)
• Kiev Zhulyany (Ukraine)
• Juba (South Sudan)
• Krasnodar (Russia)
• Samara (Russia)
• Kazan (Russia)
• Mineralnye Vody (Russia)
• Odessa (Ukraine)
• Prague (Czech Republic)
• Rostov-on-Don (Russia)
• Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
• Skopje (Macedonia)
• Sofia (Bulgaria)
• Tbilisi (Georgia)
• Kuwait (Kuwait)
• Baku  (Azerbaijan)
• Lucknow (India)
• Ahwaz (Iran)
• Bandar Abbas (Iran)
• Esfahan (Iran)
• Lar (Iran)
• Shiraz (Iran)
• Najaf (Iraq)
• Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)
• Muscat (Oman)
• Salalah (Oman)
• Yekaterinburg (Russia)
• Bucharest (Romania)

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