FlyDubai has just announced a new aircraft order, and it’s one of the most interesting orders that we’ve seen in quite some time, if you ask me (separately, FlyDubai has announced plans to introduce free Starlink Wi-Fi)!
In this post:
FlyDubai plans huge growth with Airbus A321neo
While it’s not yet a firm order, FlyDubai has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus for 150 A321neo aircraft, making the airline a new Airbus customer. This is expected to include 115 firm orders and 35 options, though the delivery timeline remains to be seen.
It’s also expected that this could include multiple variants within the A321neo family, so FlyDubai could also be looking at some A321LRs and A321XLRs.
For context, the A321 is the biggest member of the A320 family of aircraft. The A321neo is the standard version in production nowadays, while the A321LR offers some incremental range, and the A321XLR offers even more range.
FlyDubai’s fleet currently consists of close to 100 Boeing 737s, including the 737-800, 737 MAX 8, and 737 MAX 9. The airline has nearly 120 737 MAXs on order, split between the 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9. Furthermore, last year the airline ordered 30 Boeing 787-9s, marking the carrier’s first wide body order.
Here’s how FlyDubai Chairman Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum describes this development:
“This strategic addition diversifies our narrow-body fleet and strengthens our long-term expansion plans. This will enable flydubai to play a key role in the success of Dubai World Central’s expansion plans, an airport we aim to become the largest airport in the world.”
“The A321neos will support the next phase of our network development and enable us to meet rising demand across our markets. We look forward to establishing a strong and enduring partnership between flydubai and Airbus.”
My take on FlyDubai’s incredible expansion plans
If FlyDubai has plans to grow to the point that it’s flying hundreds of jets, then it makes perfect sense to split the fleet between Airbus and Boeing. Each fleet is big enough to be efficient and have economies of scale. And unfortunately for Boeing, the simple reality is that it doesn’t have a plane that can compete with the A321neo family.
Boeing of course has the high capacity 737 MAX 10, which hasn’t yet been certified, but it doesn’t actually have great range (it has reduced range compared to the smaller variants). Meanwhile the A321neo family has the most range of any narrow body plane, with the A321XLR. So if FlyDubai increasingly wants to expand into more medium and long haul markets, that range is needed.
As you can see above, one of the stated reasons for this order is in anticipation of the move to Dubai World Central Airport (DWC), which is expected to be the biggest airport in the world, and will eventually be home to Emirates and FlyDubai. The current plan is for the move to happen around 2034, give or take, but who really knows.
I continue to find the relationship between Emirates and FlyDubai to be very strange, and can’t help but think that a merger between the two airlines makes sense. For context, both airlines are owned by the government of Dubai, and while they have a partnership, they’re branded completely separately. So ultimately they’re competitors with the same shareholders.
This just makes no sense in the long run, given that Emirates doesn’t have any narrow body planes, so that limits the markets the airline can fly to. You’d think it would be a no-brainer to eventually have the airlines merge, given Emirates’ amazing global name recognition, and FlyDubai’s lack of name recognition.
Also keep in mind that FlyDubai is not a low cost carrier, so it’s not that it’s kept separate because it’s some ultra low cost airline. For that matter, FlyDubai is actually moving more upmarket in recent times. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Bottom line
FlyDubai intends to acquire up to 150 Airbus A321neos, marking the first time that the airline is ordering non-Boeing aircraft. The split fleet as such isn’t that surprising, though perhaps what’s most surprising is just how big FlyDubai plans to become, as the airline now has close to 300 aircraft on order. It’s going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out…
What do you make of FlyDubai’s Airbus A321neo order?
I never thought flydubai would ever break its allegiance to Boeing — then again, Icelandair did the same recently by inducting A321neos!
FYI: the correct spelling is flydubai, not FlyDubai. flydubai is written entirely in lowercase. The same goes for flynas and flyadeal in Saudi Arabia.
@Ben
You made a typo in the first sentence of this article.
"FlyDubai has just announced a new aircraft order, and it’s one of the most interesting orders that we’ve been in quite some time, if you ask me!"
It think it should be "we've seen"..........instead of "we've been".
This order is a big news though. The A321neo is a very nice aircraft as compared to the Boeing 737 MAX.
@ Nasir -- Fixed, thank you!