Flydubai in early talks for largest ever airplane order

Image credit: Sourced from flydubai

UAE government-owned airline flydubai is in early talks with planemakers Boeing and Airbus to place its largest-ever airplane order, CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith said on Tuesday.

“The last order we did was 175 and this (next one) is going to be the biggest, I’m sure,” al-Ghaith told Reuters in an interview at the Farnborough Air Show. 

flydubai announced the purchase of 175 Boeing 737 MAX airplanes in 2017.

Check out a selection of images featuring the aircraft from today!#FIA2024 #AVGeek #Aviation #Aerospace #AirShow pic.twitter.com/2bLkV9tG2q

— Farnborough Airshow (@FIAFarnborough) July 23, 2024

flydubai expansion plans impacted

However, the airline said it has been impacted due to the ongoing crisis at American plane manufacturer Boeing’s plants.

flydubai’s fleet expansion plans have been hit by delays to Boeing’s aircraft delivery schedule, the Dubai airline said on Monday.

flydubai, the sister low-cost airline of flagship carrier Emirates, said it was “evaluating its route development plans and potential frequency revision across the network due to a lack of new aircraft deliveries over the next few months”.

Demand for air travel has rebounded since the pandemic, but planemakers are struggling to boost production levels due to disrupted supply chains and a safety crisis at Boeing.

flydubai said Boeing’s delivery delays in recent years had placed substantial pressure on the airline and its ability to plan for its projected growth in the wake of strong post-pandemic travel demand.

The carrier said that due to revisions to the 2024 delivery schedule, Boeing was not expected to hand over the 14 737 MAX aircraft originally scheduled for the year.

flydubai, which has more than 125 737 MAX jets on order to be delivered over the next decade, urged the US manufacturer to “honour and renew its commitment” to meet its delivery obligations.

Read: Emirates’ Sir Tim Clark on tapping the debt market and the Boeing crisis