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Business Aviation

Budget carrier flydubai profit up 43% at Dh1.2 billion in 2022

Revenues for the year also rose, reaching Dh9.1 billion, up 72%



The airline also hired 1,300 employees in 2022, the airline’s biggest recruitment drive in any year.
Image Credit: Dubai media office

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.”

"I look forward to seeing the vital role flydubai plays in the continued growth of the aviation sector; a key driver in realising the Dubai Economic Agenda D33," said Sheikh Ahmed.
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Recruitment
1,300 employees joined flydubai in 2022; 80 per cent of whom are cabin crew, engineers or pilots. This was the biggest recruitment drive that has ever been undertaken by flydubai in any single year.

“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

- Ghaith Al Ghaith

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,

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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.

Match Day Shuttle flights
flydubai positioned six aircraft at Dubai World Central (DWC) and operated 1,290 Match Day Shuttle flights between DWC and Doha International Airport (DIA) from November 21 until December 19, 2022. “Never before has there been up to 30 daily return flights between two countries in the region; enabling more than 133,000 football fans, representing 171 nationalities, to travel conveniently during the World Cup 2022,” the airline said in a statement on Wednesday.
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