Flydubai Reports Record-Setting Profitability in 2023

One of the biggest carriers in the Arabian Gulf region, Dubai-based flydubai, recently announced its full-year results for 2023. The airline reached and surpassed its records in all key areas. The pandemic slowdown looks like a mere trampoline bounce in a rearview mirror when looking at the yearly data for the carrier.

Outstanding Revenue and Profitability

This was a record-breaking year for the carrier. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, commenting on the airline’s 2023 results:  “…building on the momentum from our previous strong performance, we continued to grow surpassing all pre-pandemic levels to achieve the most profitable year in the history of the airline.”

The airline outlined the following performance measures:

• Annual revenue of AED 11.2 billion (USD 3 billion) compared to AED 9.1 billion (USD 2.5 billion) in 2022, an increase of 23% compared to 2022
• Profit of AED 2.1 billion (USD 572 million), an increase of 75% compared to 2022
• Capacity increased by 27% to 40,292 million ASKMs, with 13 new Boeing 737 aircraft added to its fleet
• Passengers carried of 13.8 million, an increase of 31% compared to 2022 and a new record surpassing its 11 million pre-pandemic figure

Flydubai annual financial results (Source: flydubai annual press releases)

Organic Growth

From its inception in 2009, the carrier grew its fleet steadily as a single-type Boeing 737 fleet. The one hiccup in 2019, after the 2018 oil price crisis, continued through the pandemic. Now, the carrier’s fleet size surpassed the pre-pandemic level in 2022 and by 2023 the steady increase trended similarly to previous years.

The hunger for capacity is even greater as flydubai entered another Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) agreement with Smartwings for six wet-leased aircraft.

Flydubai annual passengers carried with fleet information (Source: flydubai press releases)

Future Outlook

Flydubai says it is laser-focused on providing more connectivity and thus more value to its home base of Dubai. The carrier has already inaugurated flights to Langkawi and Penang on February 10 of this year, making a comeback to the Southeast Asia region. With the recent announcement of new routes in the Baltics region – Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn – the commitment is visible to enter new markets and connect them with the United Arab Emirates using a low-cost base and efficient aircraft.

Speaking of efficient aircraft, all eyes are on the new aircraft deliveries that are set to start in 2026. With a new addition to the fleet, Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, the carrier will be able to try out the infamous long-haul low-cost model.

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Filip Kopeć

A passionate aviation enthusiast that started off his career as an aerospace engineer, but found his true calling on the commercial side of the airline business. Now as a finance guy among avgeeks and an avgeek among finance guys, he has experience working in the Revenue Divisions of three airlines. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, but admittedly sometimes is more about the journey than the destination.

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