Khaleej Times, Monday, May 09, 2022 | Shawwal 08, 1443
Flydubai records 114% growth in passenger traffic in Q1
Emirates:
Flydubai began the year on high note as it recorded
strong growth in passenger traffic during the first quarter of 2022 following
ease in travel restrictions and opening of international borders.
The Dubai-based airline on Sunday said it carried 2.35 million passengers
through 19,000 flights during the January-March quarter, reflecting a strong
year-on-year growth of 114 per cent in passenger traffic.
The airline also noticed an increase in demand for connecting traffic as 43 per
cent of passengers connecting on to the carrier’s network compared to 28 per
cent for the same period last year.
“Demand for travel in business class continues to grow across the network and
Europe saw an increase to 51 per cent in first quarter of 2022, up from 39 per
cent in 2021,” the airline said in a statement.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer at flydubai, said Dubai has
demonstrated its ability to successfully overcome the various challenges
presented by the pandemic and continues to thrive.
“We have continued our growth in 2022 capitalising on the tremendous results we
reported for 2021,” he said.
“We have seen the number of passengers carried in the first quarter of this year
more than double compared to the previous couple of years as we welcomed the
world during Expo Dubai 2020, connected underserved markets to Dubai and added
more frequencies around the network,” Al Ghaith said.
Strong business model
Flydubai termed its first-quarter performance exceptional and attributed the
credit to the carrier’s growing network and added capacity on its existing
routes that have been supported by new aircraft deliveries since the start of
the year.
“Our strong business model, supported by our ongoing recruitment drive to grow
our workforce in parallel with the scheduled aircraft deliveries this year, will
see that we are well placed to accommodate the surge in demand as more people
get ready to travel again over the summer,” Al Ghaith said.
Since commencing operations in June 2009, flydubai has been committed to
removing barriers to travel, creating free flows of trade and tourism and
enhancing connectivity between different cultures across its ever-expanding
network. The airline launched more than 70 new routes that did not previously
have direct air links to Dubai or were not served by a UAE national carrier from
Dubai.
Network exceeds pre-pandemic number
Flydubai inducted four new aircraft this year, growing its fleet of Boeing 737s
to 63 aircraft serving its growing network of more than 100 destinations in 50
countries across Africa, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Central and South-East
Europe, the GCC and the Middle East, and the Indian Subcontinent. During the
first quarter of 2022, the airline exceeded the number of destinations it
operated prior to the pandemic.
The carrier relaunched flights to Yanbu (YNB) in Saudi Arabia in February and
added AlUla (ULH) and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) to its growing network in
March, and has also announced the start of flights to a number of new
destinations including Pisa in Italy and Izmir in Turkey commencing this summer.
“The carrier will take delivery of 18 more aircraft over the next few months,
for which financing mandates have been issued. To support this growth
trajectory, flydubai is currently undergoing a recruitment drive to add more
talented professionals to its workforce and this includes pilots, cabin crew and
various positions across the business,” according to the statement.