Dubai: Low-cost carrier flydubai is about to receive its fourth aircraft from Boeing that will be fitted with new interiors and an inflight entertainment system.
The Dubai-based carrier will be the first in the Middle East to offer pay-per-view inflight content. Flydubai will also be the first carrier to operate an aircraft that features Boeing's new Sky Interior.
"We are a low-cost airline but we are committed to investing in innovation where it will make econ-omic sense and will offer an improved customer experience," Gaith Al Gaith, chief executive, told reporters in Beirut.
Flydubai will install the pay-per-view inflight entertainment system (IFE) on 44 aircraft.
The IFE will initially be made available on longer routes such as its service to Beirut.
The new system brings high-definition (HD) movies to flydubai's passengers.
"The idea is to provide the lowest possible cost of ownership to an airline," J. Douglas Cline, Chief Executive of Lumexis, manufacturer of the IFE, said.
Employing fibre optic cables, the system is said to be a third the weight of those in other aircraft which use copper wiring.
The lower the weight, the lower the fuel consumption of the aircraft, thus reducing operating costs.
Cline said the fibre optic system is better by half in terms of function and cost. "It is reliable because it's simpler. There are fewer things to fail," he said.
The fibre optics provide more bandwidth for the user to work with, at a speed of 1,000mbps.
Officials are considering introducing inflight internet browsing as well as other applications.
"While the outlay initially may cost several million dollars per B737-800, overall the benefits of additional revenue and a growing fleet to install this new IFE system will bring significant income to the airline and provide a big step in breaking even," said Saj Ahmad, an airline analyst at FBE Aerospace in London.
Currently, a slot to swipe a credit card under the viewing screen allows passengers to pay for the services.
Even food and beverages can be paid for the same way.
A USB port is also availlable to recharge electronic devices such as mobile phones. This jack may also be used for viewing personal movies or videos in the future or even plugging in gaming joysticks for a better experience with games on the system.
"We will break even on the system. It's not a burden on the airline because it gives us the ability to express who we are. We have a whole lot of flexibility to make this system a success," Al Gaith said. The system is also a revenue generator for the airline and it hopes to recover the cost of maintenance very quickly, and the cost of implementation will be spread out over many aircraft in the next eight years.
"The traditional system was too expensive to be viable for a low-cost carrier," Al Gaith said. "But the new system changed that."
The airline charges Dh25 for a movie and Dh5 to Dh10 for a TV show. Content is refreshed and updated every month.
Sky Interior
Flydubai signed up for the optional Sky Interior at the time of aircraft purchase and was the first of 60 Boeing customers to take delivery by end-October.
The interior of the B737 narrow-body offers more interior space, more over-head storage space and lighting that adjusts according to the time of day to ease jet lag.
"As the only major Boeing 737 low-cost airline in the GCC, it will make rivals sit up and take note that flydubai has arguably the best product on the market today for any low-cost airline," said Ahmad.
Boeing said that the majority of its backlog for the B737s will be with the new interiors, but it has no plans to phase out the original design.
"We have over 60 customers that have already purchased this option and will take delivery in the coming months. Three have already taken delivery of this Sky Interior and we'll have at least one more before the end of 2010," said Kent Craver, regional director for passenger satisfaction and revenue at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The interior lighting is blue for daytime, orange for the evening and white for takeoff and landing. The colours coincidently match those of flydubai's blue and orange, a reflection of Dubai's sea and sand.
Expansio: Carrier to link Gassim
Flydubai yesterday announced its 30th destination — the agricultural city of Gassim in Saudi Arabia. The service will be operated three times a week starting January 18. The announcement comes days after Yanbu was declared flydubai's second destination in the kingdom.
flydubai chief executive Gaith Al Gaith said: "This further solidifies our commitment to the Saudi Arabian trade, tourism and commercial industries and caters to the growing demand for low cost air travel in the region and especially in the kingdom."
Other recent routes launched by the airline include Yerevan in Armenia, Abha in Saudi Arabia, Sulaimaniyah in Iraq and Ashgabat in Turkmenistan.
