Budget carrier flydubai profit up 43% at Dh1.2 billion in 2022
Revenues for the year also rose, reaching Dh9.1 billion, up 72%
Dubai: Budget carrier flydubai reported on Wednesday Dh1.2 billion in profit for 2022, marking nearly 43 per cent increase compared to 2021.
Revenues for the year also rose, reaching Dh9.1 billion, up 72 per cent over the Dh5.3 billion in 2021 as passenger numbers grew by 89 per cent. The airline carried 10.6 million passengers in 2021, it said in a statement.
“flydubai remained committed to maintaining the highest levels of cost and operational efficiencies while preserving and growing its workforce over the past two years,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of flydubai. “This meant the carrier was quick to cater to the pent-up demand and support Dubai’s accelerated recovery.”
“Navigating through challenging times characterised by continued fluctuating fuel prices, disruption to supply chains, rising global inflation and geopolitical unrest did not dampen our strong performance last year,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai. “Our robust cost control measures, network optimisation, strong yield and the significant fuel efficiencies of our fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft have contributed to this historic financial performance.”
2022 has been an exceptional year, with accelerated demand, bookended by the final few months of Expo 2020 and the unprecedented efforts to support travel to and from the World Cup in Doha
Cost and revenue performance
From the financial side, fuel cost continued to be the single highest operating cost for the airline with 33.9 per cent of total annual operating costs. The airline said this was due to the substantial increase in fuel prices last year.
Last year, flydubai also secured financing for 20 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and 3 LEAP-1B engines through a combination of sale and leaseback and commercial debt financing,
Operationally, 17 new aircraft joined the carrier’s fleet in 2022, growing its fleet by 25 per cent compared to the previous year. The airline ended 2022 with 74 aircraft: 32 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800, 39 Boeing 737 MAX 8, and 3 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.