Dubai-based carrier flydubai had its strongest ever performance last year, and announced record-breaking annual results for the financial year ending 31 December 2023,
The airline reported Dh2.1 billion in profit for 2023, a whopping 75 per cent up from 2022. Total revenue during the year was Dh11.2 billion, up by 23 per cent compared to 2022.
The airline said in a media release that 13.8 million passengers travelled on flydubai during 2023 – a 31 per cent year-on-year increase.
Commenting on the results, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of flydubai, said, “In its 15th year of operations, flydubai has emerged as one of the key players in the UAE’s aviation industry and a major contributor to Dubai’s economy. Its solid business model has enabled the carrier to grow exponentially even during challenging times, doubling its operating fleet and expanding its network since the pandemic.
"This remarkable achievement has been made possible due to the vision of the UAE’s leadership and the progressive policies of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum which are conducive to the success of the aviation industry and flydubai as a key contributor to the sector.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai said, “Building on the momentum from our previous strong performance, we continued to grow surpassing all pre-pandemic levels to achieve the most profitable year in the history of the airline. The confidence our leadership and key partners have in us has kept us steadfast in our commitment to connect more underserved markets to Dubai and to enable more passengers to travel conveniently more often.
“More than 108 million passengers have chosen flydubai since our first flight took off in 2009, proving the attractiveness of our offering and the city we carry in our name."
flydubai launched with four destinations in its network in 2009, and ended 2023 with routes to 122 destinations across 52 countries. This is in addition to other cities accessible to flydubai passengers through codeshare agreements with Emirates and over 25 global airlines.
2024 outlook
At the Dubai Airshow 2023, flydubai placed a $11 billion order for 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners to be delivered from 2026.
Al Ghaith added, "This year will see more investment in technologies across the business and the retrofitting of our fleet of Next-Generation Boeing 737 aircraft to provide a more cohesive customer experience."
"We will continue with our strategic network development plans that will see more destinations join the flydubai network this year starting with the five new routes announced since the start of 2024 including Basel, Riga, Sochi, Tallinn and Vilnius."
The airline ordered its first-ever wide-body aircraft in 2023 with a $11 billion order for 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which will be delivered from 2026. Currently, flydubai has 84 aircraft - 29 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800, 52 Boeing 737 MAX 8, and 03 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
