UAE’s flydubai introduces premium business class ‘seat’

flydubai has introduced its Business Suite, which is designed exclusively for single-aisle aircraft.

The offering will see 10 suites introduced to a number of the carrier’s newest aircraft before the end of 2023.

The new introduction will give flydubai’s Business Class passengers direct aisle access.

flydubai is the launch customer for this brand-new offering. The carrier worked closely with Safran Seats,  a leading manufacturer of aircraft seats, and JPA Design, a multinational design company operating in the transportation, interiors, and product design arenas, to create the ‘seating’ product.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer at flydubai, said: “Our business and product offerings have evolved from the initial no-frills model over the past 14 years to cater to the ever-growing needs of our customers and the markets we operate to. We have come a long way since the introduction of our first Business Class offering in 2013, which has served us well. Today, we are proud to unveil a new premium product which rivals the Business Class experience offered by many airlines on wide-body aircraft. We will continue to invest in innovation to enhance the customer experience across our growing fleet.”

Victoria Foy, CEO of Safran Seats, said: “we are very excited to have flydubai as our launch customer for flydubai’s ‘The Business Suite VUE’ seat, it has been an exciting journey working together to bring this product to the market for the first time on a Boeing aircraft. flydubai will operate with an outstanding Business Class seat designed for the best onboard experience on single-aisle longer haul flights”.

Daniel Kerrison, Vice President of Inflight Product at flydubai, said: “the new business suite will take comfort on board to the next level. The increased height of the back-shell, a sliding suite door and direct aisle access for every passenger create a level of privacy never before seen on Boeing 737s. We have been working with Safran Seats and JPA Design over the past three years to develop an experience that meets the growing demand for premium air travel services across our network, offering passengers wide-body comfort on our narrow-body fleet.”

Timeline: Business class offering at flydubai

• May 2023: The Business Suite is unveiled. The carrier’s first aircraft featuring the new Business Suite is expected to join the flydubai fleet in November. The new premium Business Class experience will be available on up to six aircraft by the first quarter of 2024 and will be scheduled on select longer flights around the flydubai network.
• November 2021: flydubai introduces a new recliner seat. It was gradually introduced to the Business Class cabin of flydubai’s fleet as part of an ongoing product development programme. The 12 Business Class recliner product configuration is available on 12 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and is predominantly scheduled on shorter and medium routes.
• November 2017: The Lie-flat Business Class seat is made available on 31 Boeing 737 MAX 8 (10 seat configuration) and three MAX 9 aircraft (16 seat configuration). This seat is designed for medium and longer routes.
• October 2013: Business Class offering launched journey inspired by customer feedback. This carrier moved away from its ‘no-frills’ business model to offer its passengers more options when travelling around the network. The 12 Business Class seat cabin configuration is available on 20 next-generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

In recent news, flydubai transported more than 3.37 million passengers between January 1 and March 31 this year – an increase of 50 per cent compared to the same period in 2022.

The carrier plans to ramp up operations for the busy summer travel period between July 1 and September 30, increasing its capacity by 20 per cent across the network

flydubai has expanded its network since the start of the year, commencing services to St Petersburg in Russia, Pattaya and Krabi in Thailand, Al Qaisumah, Al Ula, Gizan, Nejran and Neom in Saudi Arabia, Shymkent in Kazakhstan, Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, Mogadishu in Somalia and Milan-Bergamo in Italy.