Visitors take photos by a FlyDubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane at the Dubai Airshow 2025, United Arab Emirates.
| Photo Credit: Altaf Qadri
“We are always looking to expand”, Dubai-based carrier flydubai’s CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said moments before it announced a second aircraft agreement in two days this time for Boeing’s 75 MAXs.
The airline announced a Memorandum of Agreement with Boeing for 75 firm 737 MAX aircraft, valued at $13 billion, and options for 75 more aircraft
“We are always looking at possibility to expand and improve our operation,” Mr. Ghaith said a media roundtable on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow 2025.
To a question on whether they were confident of the manufacturer despite delays in aircraft deliveries, he said “we are very confident in our country, in Dubai, and what lies ahead more than any time ever in my lifetime.” The multiple orders from the airline, as well as Emirates 65 Boeing 777-9 order at Dubai Airshow come at a time its neighbour Saudi Arabia is undertaking a massive economic transformation of which an impetus for aviation is a key pillar. Saudi has drawn a plan for expansion at airports, their privatisation and several new airlines, including full service carrier Riyadh Air which undertook its first flight between Riyadh and London last month.
On Tuesday, the airline had also announced a 150-aircraft order for Airbus A321 neo. The deliveries are expected to start from 2031 until 2043 and will help the airline add 15 more seats and fly two hours longer than the current equipment in its fleet.
The airline has 96 737s in its fleet, which include 737-800s, 737 MAX 8s and 737 MAX 9s. The airline offers 172 to 189 seats in two class configurations. It also has 30 Boeing 787s on order which will join the airline from 2027 end.
Alongwith Emirates, flydubai too has announced plans to offer Starlink WiFi on its aircraft allowing passengers to stream internet, make video as 100 of its aircraft will be installed with the antennas 2026. The Chairman and Chief Executive of the Emirates Group, Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said flydubai was leaving its low its low-cost roots behind.
“They started as a low-cost airline, that is what we needed at the time,” the Chairman told The Hindu in response to a question about the transformation underway at flydubai.
The “luxury side” of Dubai and the changes in the past 15 years since the launch of flydubai in March 2010 compel changes at the airline, he explained.
“We asked, should we just say that we are a low-cost [airline] and we shouldn’t really change anything? And maybe leave cash on the table or we should really work and make sure that we also earn that European reputation” he said about standing out in the European market.
(The journalist was in Dubai on the invitation of flydubai)
Published – November 19, 2025 07:32 pm IST
