Flydubai goes it alone

Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO, flydubai
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Flydubai successfully launched its first commercial flights last month and now it seems it is very much on its own.

When flydubai touched down in Alexandria, Egypt, it marked the completion of its first round of operational destinations, a historical moment for Dubai.

In fact, throughout the route launches, which began on June 1 and carried on through to June 9, the budget carrier’s CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith reiterated the fact that as Dubai’s first low-cost airline, flydubai was making history.

For the carrier’s management and crew, each destination launch signified another landmark event in flydubai’s early operations, but even before it opened for business, its owner, Emirates Airline was keen to distance itself from the start-up carrier.

“I will not deny that my colleagues have helped with flydubai’s start-up, but from June 1 they are on their own,” said Emirates Airline commercial operations East Asia & Australasia Richard Vaughan, during a seminar held at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

The route choices were testament, Vaughan said, that the airline was operating as a separate entity to Emirates. “Would we have pitched Amman and Beirut?

In addition to its service to Alexandria, Egypt, the airline flies to Beirut, Amman and Damascus. Just recently Al Ghaith announced the fifth destination as Aleppo.

“We don’t see flydubai as direct competition, and the airline will be good for Dubai and the overall economy of the UAE and the surrounding region.”

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However, he did point out that the airline could pose some challenges for Sharjah-based LCC Air Arabia.

“Air Arabia may see more competition though, but that will do them some good,” he laughed.

Air Arabia CEO Adel Ali was sitting alongside Vaughan during the seminar and added that the UAE would benefit from more budget carriers, if only the Middle East had more small airports to support them.
Ali has campaigned continually for both the government and private investors to plough money into building secondary airports as he believes this is the only way for low-cost airlines to grow.

However, it is arguable that Ali would be worried about flydubai taking a portion of his airline’s market share at the moment. The hugely successful low-cost carrier has recently extended its product offering to include a holiday booking service called Air Arabia Holidays.

The online portal offers a range of holiday destinations to choose from including Asia, the Middle East, GCC, Europe and North Africa.

By searching the website the customer is given a number of ready-made holiday solutions or they can create their own holiday by picking flights, hotels, booking rental cars and transfers and selecting from a choice of excursions.

“The Air Arabia Holidays online portal makes it easier than ever before to find, book and even custom-make your dream holiday at the best available rates,” said Air Arabia head of commercial AK Nizar. “Following our airline’s low-fares formula, we offer great savings on holiday travel without compromises on quality. These savings enable you to stay longer, holiday more often or to upgrade your hotel choice, all within the same planned budget,” he added.

The launch of Air Arabia’s Holidays division follows the airline posting a net profit for the first quarter of 2009 of US$28.1 million, a 32% rise on the same period last year.

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