flydubai orders 60 GEnx engines to power new Boeing 787 fleet

flydubai signs major GEnx engine deal to support its first wide-body Boeing 787 fleet

Last updated: November 17, 2025 | 15:20

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

flydubai orders 60 GEnx engines to power new Boeing 787 fleet

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Dubai: flydubai has signed a major agreement with GE Aerospace for 60 GEnx-1B engines to support the airline’s first wide-body fleet, marking a significant step in its long-haul expansion plans. The deal, finalised at the Dubai Airshow 2025, includes spare engines and a long-term services package that will support the carrier as it brings its new Boeing 787-9 aircraft into service.

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A major step toward long-haul operations

The order reinforces flydubai’s wider growth strategy. The airline, established in 2008, now serves more than 135 destinations across 57 countries and is preparing to add long-haul routes to its network for the first time. The additional engine capacity will help the carrier increase seats on existing routes while supporting demand from a growing customer base.

“The performance and durability of our engines play an integral role in the success of our operations and fleet expansion plans, especially as we prepare to welcome the Boeing 787 aircraft to our fleet in the coming years," said Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO at flydubai. "We look forward to a long and successful partnership with GE Aerospace as we embark on the next chapter of growth.”

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GE’s GEnx engines selected for efficiency and durability

flydubai’s choice of the GEnx-1B engine reflects confidence in GE Aerospace’s track record for performance and reliability in challenging operating environments. The GEnx family has accumulated more than 62 million flight hours since 2011 and remains GE’s fastest-selling high-thrust engine, with more than 3,600 units in service and backlog. The engine powers two-thirds of all Boeing 787 aircraft currently flying, and it is certified to operate on today’s sustainable aviation fuel blends.

The deal builds on flydubai’s initial wide-body order for 30 Boeing 787-9s placed at the 2023 Dubai Airshow. The addition of the fuel-efficient Dreamliner aircraft marks a shift from the airline’s all-737 fleet and supports its long-term plan to offer the right product mix as customer needs evolve.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.