FLYDUBAI, Dubai’s innovative low-cost airline will make its debut at the Arabian travel Market (ATM) 2012 for the first time since its launch in 2010. The next-generation airline has rapidly spread its network to over 45 destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and CIS.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai speaks to TTN about what makes this airline so successful.
Three years since its launch, flydubai is participating at ATM for the first time this year. What prompted this decision?
As you say, we have been operating for three years now and as an established airline this is an appropriate time in our journey to showcase our continuingly expanding network and range of services, including our revolutionary In-Flight Entertainment (IFE). ATM is the main travel trade exhibition in this region and provides a platform for us to give travel and tourism professionals a taste of the flydubai experience and allow them to gain greater insight into our destinations. We are very excited to be at ATM and look forward to welcoming delegates to our stand.
As an LCC, what is your message to the trade at ATM?
We will be focussing on the diversity of our routes, which will appeal to people travelling for a number of purposes, whether that is leisure, business or visiting friends and family. We will also discuss our latest innovations, including the wide selection of movies, TV programmes, music and games on our IFE system. The individual seatback screens also offer the latest news from UAE-based publications Al Bayan, Emarat Al Youm and Emirates 24/7 so passengers can keep up-to-date on local and world events day and night. Another focus is the wealth of booking and payment options flydubai has introduced. Not only do we have the website, call centre and flydubai Travel Shops but we have signed a number of Global Distribution System (GDS) deals providing thousands of travel agents around the world with great access to our fares. This will help more people travel to and from Dubai and beyond through connections with flydubai and other airlines. Not all low-cost carriers sign up to these systems, but it is initiatives such as this that sets flydubai apart and we hope agents and passengers take advantage of these services.
Can we expect announcements for new routes and/or aircraft at the show?
With this being a travel exhibition, we will be focusing on our route network and what each destination offers, as well as our innovative approach to ensuring passengers enjoy their flydubai experience every time they fly. There will be new services to see and we encourage delegates to visit the stand to find out more.
With so much political turmoil in the region, how difficult was 2011? Are you seeing a change in travel patterns since?
With such a varied route network, we enjoyed a successful 2011. Travel trends did change during this time and Dubai, in particular, was a popular destination with GCC passengers. We also maintained our regular flight schedule wherever possible. One of the advantages of the travel industry is that it can adapt quickly to change. Looking across our network, we started operations last year to a number of destinations in Russia, the CIS, and Central and Eastern Europe. Travellers are hungry to visit new destinations and our direct flights to cities such as Baku, Yerevan and Tbilisi have opened up previously underserved markets.
The demand from these markets to connect to other destinations for example, Sri Lanka, among other spots, saw us increase flights to Colombo last month taking it to a daily service.
What is the growth strategy for the airline today and how much has that changed in the last three years?
flydubai has started operations to 50 destinations in less than three years of operation, making us the fastest growing start-up airline in the world. We are very proud of this achievement and we will continue to build on this in the months and years ahead. We have always aimed to marry offering flights to already popular routes that needed extra capacity, such as Beirut, Doha and Kuwait, which are in demand from business traffic, with underserved routes, such as Baku, or Kazan in Russia. This strategy has proved to be a great success as affordable direct flights encourage people to travel to a broader range of destinations.
How does flydubai keep up with the latest technological advancements in the industry?
As an airline that prides itself on being innovative, flydubai actively seeks out the latest technological advances and our IFE system is a prime example of this. We were the first airline in the world able to show movies in high definition. Moreover, we offer more movies, TV shows and music than any other low-cost carrier. In adopting this system, we became the launch customer for Lumexis, underpinning our desire to pioneer new products that fit with our low-cost philosophy.