New markets drive flydubai to success

Dubai airline, flydubai, spoke of its success story, highlighting the airline’s achievements since its launch and the increasingly prominent role it is playing in Dubai’s aviation sector.
The airline paid tribute to the vision and support of the government of Dubai, recognizing its investment in infrastructure and tourism as well as its commitment to developing Dubai’s aviation sector, which is expected to contribute around $ 45 billion in revenues to Dubai’s GDP by 2020.
Since operations began in June 2009, flydubai has experienced unrivalled growth.
In the past two years it has more than doubled the number of destinations it flies to, from 25 to 52, a rate of more than one new destination per month and has increased its weekly flights to more than 1,000.
A statement says flydubai has carried 10.4 million passengers since its launch.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman of flydubai, commented: “In its short history, flydubai has firmly established its place in the region. It has opened up new markets, contributed to increased tourism in Dubai and made a major contribution to the growth and connectivity of Dubai’s aviation hub..”
CEO Ghaith Al-Ghaith said: “We moved into the black for the second half of 2011, delivering three consecutive semi-annual periods of profitable growth.”
Total revenue for flydubai in 2012 was AED 2,778 million ($ 756 million), a strong demonstration of the airline’s growth story to date.
Net profit for the year was AED 151.9 million ($ 41.4 million) and flydubai saw a steady upward trend in EBITDAR, reaching 24 percent of revenue for 2012,.
Passenger numbers for flydubai’s GCC network grew by 63 percent in 2012, with the total market for all airlines growing by 21 percent. In the CIS, flydubai’s passenger numbers grew by 72 percent, with the total market for all airlines growing by 28 percent.