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The choice of aircraft was tough, with Boeing and Airbus both offering high quality, eco-efficient short-haul planes. In the end Ghaith admits the 737-800s had the edge on ‘efficiency' and were slightly cheaper to run.

"The main competitor is the Airbus A320 and they're both great aircraft. If you picked any of these two aircraft you wouldn't go wrong, it just so happened that the 737s did slightly better in our evaluations based on routes and cost."

In addition to purchasing 54 environmentally friendly aircraft, the carrier placed orders for engines and winglets totalling $750 million. In the first part of the deal FlyDubai signed a contract with CFM international for 50 CFM56-7B engines to power its new aircraft.

Shortly afterwards the airline signed a $50 million deal with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) for blended winglets, which add an extra 1.4 metres to the wingspan and help combat excessive fuel consumption and noise pollution.

"The combination of engines and winglets means we'll be operating aircraft that are as kind to the environment as possible," says Ghaith.

"With the winglets our 737s will be operating with a lower fuel burn and a reduction in NOx emissions of almost 5%. The winglets also provide a 6.5% reduction in the noise affected area on take off. When you put that together with the reductions in CO₂ emissions that we'll have from the engines, our 737s will be among the most environmentally friendly aircraft flying today."

At present the airline plans to run only one type of aircraft but Ghaith admits this could change in the future. "For the time being we're not running long-haul flights," he says. "We are building a new model of business and and if that's successful we may start flying beyond the region of 4.5 hours."

Despite the fact there are several budget carriers already in operation across the Middle East, Ghaith believes FlyDubai will be a success. "I don't think it's right to say you're not at all concerned, but it's also not the way we think," he says.

"I think Dubai is a huge market and we always wanted to have another airline here- it was just a question of time and space. We don't worry about the competition too much; we just worry about doing our job."

The price of crude oil, which at its highest reached $148 per barrel, has caused the closure of several airlines and made life difficult for many more. But Ghaith is confident the start-up airline will be able to weather this storm.

"We're obviously concerned that fuel prices are going up, but we don't believe that makes our business model invalid. On the contrary, with the rising costs there'll always be a requirement for a low cost carrier."

And although fuel prices remain high at present, Ghaith believes they will eventually drop. "We do think this crisis will be over at a certain time, and then there will be lots of prosperity."

To keep costs low, FlyDubai will run as cheaply as possible. "We are not going to add costs because we have to have certain things. We'll operate a very simple, no frills service. There won't be a fancy entertainment system like the ICE programme on Emirates flights. There will be meals service but you'll have to pay extra."

But most importantly the airline is brand new and will therefore incur no extra costs from previous debt. "We'll be starting fresh which is great," says Ghaith. "It's a good way to keep our costs low because it means we won't have cost layers to deal with."

RELATED LINK: Flying for less

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