Fly Dubai airline  

FlyDubai budget airline Dubai tel for bookings +971-4-3010800

FlyDubai launch dates for their Indian routes have been suspended "due to operational issues" (10 July 2009 information). There was a previous report of the Indian Air Force denying permission to Fly Dubai for Chandigarh, which was denied by FlyDubai. Fly Dubai tel +971-4-3010800 where you might be able to get a personalised denial of information and a refund. Flights to Chandigarh would start in August 2009 according to a report in the Indian Business Standard 15 July 2009.

FlyDubai (or flydubai / Fly Dubai) is a budget carrier operating out of Dubai with first flight date of 01 June 2009 from Dubai to Beirut. A low-cost carrier for Dubai was first announced and established by the Dubai Government in March 2008, and the name FlyDubai was announced June 2008. Initially, FlyDubai was to operate out of the new Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali (JXB) but in March 2009 FlyDubai announced they would be flying out of a refurbished Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport although the FlyDubai website still said "We will be based at Al Maktoum International" at the time of the announcement (11 March 2009 press release). FlyDubai may, or will, move to JXB at some future date. T2 is the terminal on the Sharjah side (or north side) of Dubai Airport and sees much less activity than T1 which most people know, and T3 which opened late in 2008 and is dedicated to Emirates Airlines. FlyDubai is being launched with the support of Emirates Airlines.

When Fly Dubai does launch its big birds, they'll be flapping off to destinations within about 4 1/2 hours from Dubai, much the same as Air Arabia started off doing when they launched their budget flights from Sharjah Airport in October 2003.

FlyDubai destinations and routes

FlyDubai timetable moved to new page.

FlyDubai announced on 06 April 2009 that their first destinations would be Amman in Jordan and Beirut in Lebanon. Other initial destinations are likely to be Asia - probably India, and busy routes to Middle East cities. Future destinations will probably include North Africa, East Africa, and nearby European cities. FlyDubai hope to have up to 16 routes and destinations by the end of 2009 according to the CEO - "by the end of the year there will be 12 to 16 destinations, depending on the approvals" (Emirates Business report 27 April 2009).

FlyDubai Dubai to Chandigarh flights expected to start 23 July 2009, depend on permission from the Indian Air Force (IAF) which controls Chandigarh airport, and does not allow civilian flights to operate after 10pm. The FlyDubai flight is scheduled to land at 11pm and the IAF has reportedly denied permission, but FlyDubai said they expect to be operating to Chandigarh as planned (Times of India reports 01 & 05 July 2009). However, a 10 July 2009 statement from Fly Dubai said that first flights to India would be delayed indefinitely.

• India (announced 24 June 2009) flights to Chandigarh (start 23 July 2009, fares from AED 350 one way), Coimbatore (start 14 July 2009, fares from AED 425 one way), Lucknow (first flight 13 July 2009, fares from AED 425 one way).
• Amritsar, Chandigarh, Goa, Jaipur, Pune in India were reported in February 2009 to be possible destinations. FlyDubai won't be the first to do Goa trips though - Air Arabia starts Goa flights on 16 April 2009.
• Fly Dubai plans to have 70 destinations by 2014
• Possible other new destinations might include Delhi, Kochi, Khartoum, Mumbai, Salalah, Sanaa (speculative based on 12 May Gulf News report that Jazeera Airways, which has a hub in Dubai, is cancelling flights from Dubai to those destinations due to changes in fifth freedom restrictions being introduced by the UAE ... unknown if the changes are designed to help FlyDubai take off).

FlyDubai new routes information

• Aleppo, Syria - first flight 13 July 2009 (announced 18 June 2009), one way from AED 300 / SYP 5800
• Alexandria, Egypt - first flight 09 June 2009 (announced 10 May 2009), one way from AED 350 / EGP 825
• Amman, Jordan - first flight 02 June 2009, costs from AED 250 one way DXB to AMM and JOD 80 (AED 415) from AMM to DXB.
• Baku, Azerbaijan - an unconfirmed report appeared on abc.az 23 September 2009 that FlyDubai would start flights to Baku. Confirmed by an 03 November 2009 press release from Fly Dubai. First flight 20 November 2009. One way air fares from AED 300 DXB-GYD and $165 from GYD-DXB.
• Beirut, Lebanon - first flight 01 June 2009, costs from AED 250 one way DXB to BEY and $100 (AED 370) from BEY to DXB.
• Damscus, Syria - first flight 08 June 2009 (announced 10 May 2009), one way from AED 300 / SYP 4300
• Djibouti City, Djibouti - first flight 01 September 2009 (announced 09 Aug 2009), cheapest one way AED 650 DXB-JIB and US$225 (AED 830) JIB-DXB
• Doha, Qatar - first flight 18 October 2009 (announced 05 October 2009), twice daily flights. One way tickets from AED 200 ex-Dubai and QAR 165 ex-Doha.
• Khartoum, Sudan - first flight 08 November 2009 (announced 20 October 2009), daily flights, One way tickets from AED 325 ex-Dubai and US$75 ex-Khartoum (FlyDubai website information).

FlyDubai bookings and what is included

• FlyDubai bookings through website, call center (tel +971-4-3010800), or travel agents / partners (additional charges apply at travel agents and maybe call center - press release 23 March 2009 wasn't clear).
• Fly Dubai tickets can also be bought at Emirates Post Offices (26 May 2009 press release)
• No tickets issued, only boarding passes, which saves money on paper for plane tickets (there's a pun there), and on electrons for e-tickets.
• Additional fees for checked baggage, choosing a seat, and food & drink. Included in ticket price is cabin baggage (up to 10 kg), taxes, air, and use of boarding ladder.
• Luggage prices are "... Dh40 for the first 32kg suitcase and Dh100 for the second 32kg suitcase," according to the FlyDubai CEO (Emirates Business 27 April 2009).
• Actual prices and destinations released 06 April 2009
• For normal fares, ticket changes cost AED 100 plus fare difference (or get a FlyDubai voucher if new flight is cheaper). No booking changes or cancellations allowed within 24 hours of departure time.
• For an extra AED 200 (might be variable), tickets can be changed free of charge up to 24 hours before departure, or cancelled for an additional payment of AED 100 - for which you get a voucher, not a refund.
• All taxes are included in ticket prices
• This information was correct as of 06 April 2009 as far as we know but should not be relied on.

Fly Dubai jobs

• As of March 2009, according to the FlyDubai website, applications are closed for pilots and cabin crew but there are a few other jobs available. Apply online (before 12 March 2009).
• According to an 18 March 2009 press release, FlyDubai had appointed 60+ captains, 18 first officers, and 80 cabin crew. Over 11,500 applications were received.

Other FlyDubai information

• Chairman of FlyDubai is Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who is also Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airlines, and President of Dubai Civil Aviation.
• Chief Executive (CEO) of FlyDubai is Ghaith Al Ghaith.
• Chief Operating Officer (COO) of FlyDubai is Kenneth Gile (appointed August 2008)
• Correct way to write FlyDubai is probably flydubai, following the pretentious fad of using poor grammar as a marketing tool (like du, easyjet, holidayautos) since that's what appears in their press releases.
• FlyDubai will operate Boeing 737-800/900 aircraft, each jet might have 189 economy class seats, and a more comfortable chair for the driver.
• The Fly Dubai order for 54 aircraft, worth about AED 14.7 billion ($4 billion), was placed at the Farnborough International AirShow in July 2008. FlyDubai will own 50, and lease the other 4 from Babcock and Brown Aircraft Management. The planes will be delivered from 2009 to 2015.
• Fly Dubai will receive 2 planes by the end of May 2009 (the first arrived approx 18 May 2009), another 4 before the end of 2009, and more in 2010 (Reuters report 06 April 2009). Update: 2 planes in May 2009, 6 by the end of 2009, and 8 planes in 2010. Update 01 July 2009 (press release): 2 planes in July, 1 in October, 1 in December with $320m of financing provided by General Electric Capital Aviation Services on a sale and lease back scheme.
• Start up capital for FlyDubai is AED 250 million, (one plane costs about AED 270 million) so they're short about AED 14.4 billion just for the planes. They plan to start with just 2 aircraft initially though.
• The aircraft will be powered by CFM56-7B engines, 2 on each plane, total order value of about AED 2.57 billion ($700 million) for the July 2008 order, which works out to about AED 26 million per motor. A quick search of Google Shopping for cheaper options returns "Your search - CFM56-7B - did not match any products" but there was a second-hand CFM56-5C version available on eBay for $70,000 (not suitable for flight use though). We're still waiting to hear back from Arthur Daley on pricing for a job lot.
• According to a report in Emirates Business 24-7 in February 2009, FlyDubai had not yet received its UAE Air Operations Certificate (AOC) (or Air Operator's Certificate) but it was "in progress". The AOC was eventually awarded by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on 25 May 2009 - about a week before its first flight. According to the same report, FlyDubai had not yet received any of its planes yet and there was a delay in the first delivery, originally expected in April 2009.

Budget airlines based in the UAE

• Air Arabia - based in Sharjah rather than Dubai, well established and popular, the first UAE budget carrier
• Jazeera Airways - a Kuwait based airline that has a base at Dubai airport. Also a bulk sms sending base in Dubai?
• RAK Airways - not clear if they are a budget airline or not. They're grounded anyway as of March 2009 as far as we know.

Last update Wednesday 04-Nov-2009

Related pages

• Air Arabia
• flights to & from Dubai
• Fly Dubai schedule - table of destinations, flight numbers, routes, etc
• Fly Dubai - forum discussion, add your comments
• Dubai International Airport

Related websites (open in new window)

• www.flydubai.com - operational on 06 April 2009. Whoever owned the domain name before Fly Dubai might have done well - one blog reported in August 2008 that it was for sale for $250,000 (unknown if that's what Fly Dubai paid for it).
• Dubai directory - add your link free

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