Flydubai profitable for third consecutive year - and optimistic about 2015

Chairman of Flydubai, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said: “the UAE has firmly established itself as a centre of gravity for aviation. We have long recognised the importance of aviation to our economic growth. Flydubai continues to make a key contribution to our economy in particular as a result of its strategy to open up previously underserved routes.”
“Recording its profitability for the third consecutive full year, the 2014 Results show that the recent order for more aircraft as well as investments in the offering on the ground and in the air have been the right strategy for the airline. Flydubai’s role in the aviation sector is now being recognised beyond the region.”
The airline’s chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith (right), said: “2014 saw Flydubai open up a record number of new routes in what was a demanding year. To have achieved what we have achieved is significant. The continued investment in our people and operations has strengthened our business and ensures that we are well positioned for sustained growth in the future. It is good to see that more passengers than ever before are travelling with us.”
Fuel remains the single largest cost at 36% of the total operating costs and though lower than the previous year has benefited from the downward trend in fuel prices starting from the last quarter of 2014. Currently 30% of fuel requirements for 2015 are hedged.
Looking ahead to this year, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “we will end 2015 with a fleet of 50 aircraft. Together with the new route launches this is an endorsement of the strategy we set out at the beginning and underlines the achievements of the past six years. I’m grateful to the team at flydubai for helping us to ensure that we are well positioned for sustained growth in the years ahead as we start to prepare for the new deliveries in 2016 and the first deliveries of the 737 MAX 8s in 2017 bringing further efficiency to our fleet.”

The Performance in Detail:

Passenger numbers: showing growing demand for its services from its passengers across its network, Flydubai carried 7.25 million passengers in 2014 and has carried 24.3 million since it launched its operations. It saw an increase in passenger numbers between 2013 and 2014 in Africa (14%), Central Asia (57%), Europe (11%) and the Subcontinent (11%).

Network: in a year that saw the airline add 23 new routes, creating a network of 86 destinations, Flydubai also increased frequency on many of its existing routes. Weekly flight frequencies to Beirut increased from 14 to 21, to Kuwait from 53 to 77, to Muscat from 28 to 41, to Salalah from 3 to 5 and Tbilisi which went to a daily service. The airline now operates 1,400 flights per week.
Its network across its geographic focus grew by the number of routes in Africa (100%), in Central Asia (66%), Europe including Russia (40%), the GCC (7%), Middle East (30%) and in the Subcontinent (38%).

Aircraft deliveries: All aircraft delivered since August 2013 have been configured with Business Class. Flydubai took delivery of eight new Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft and ended the year with a fleet of 43 aircraft.

Business Class: Flydubai ended the year with 70% of its routes offering Business Class. During the course of the year ahead, it will announce the remaining routes to receive this service. It also enhanced the business class offering on the ground with the opening of the Flydubai Business Lounge at Terminal 2, Dubai International.

Staff numbers: The airline continued to grow numbers increasing the number of staff to 2,883 including 571 pilots, 1,235 cabin crew and 221 engineers representing more than 111 nationalities across the workforce.

Finance: Ancillary revenue items including inflight entertainment, onboard sales, seat preferences, checked baggage allowance, car rental, hotel bookings, travel insurance and visa facilitation services continue to be strong and comprise 14.4% of total revenue.
Flydubai continued its strategy to diversify its sources of funding. In November it issued a landmark debut Sukuk transaction successfully raising $500 million. The 5-year Sukuk was six times oversubscribed demonstrating the strong international investor appetite for this paper. Funds will be used for general corporate purposes and refinancing.