Flydubai plans to fly to 16 destinations by end of year

Flydubai has revealed that is planning to have up to 16 routes on its network by the end of the year, according to media reports.

The CEO of the low budget firm, which starts its first flight to Beirut and Amman on June 1, said that he still hopes to make a profit in 2009.

"We can say that by the end of the year there will be 12 to 16 destinations. Some will be daily, some more than once a day and others weekly."

"According to our plan, we will try to make profits this year, and we have not taken into account the possibility of making losses. But logically, if profits were made over the next three years it would be good," Ghaith Al Ghaith told a UAE Arabic daily.

The firm still had to gain the necessary approvals from aviation authorities to fly the 16 routes, but it was having no problem securing finance for the necessary aircraft, Al Ghaith added.

The carrier has ordered 54 Boeings, which are due for delivery up to 2015 -2016 - two are due to be handed over in May, six will be delivered before the end of the year and a further eight next year.

"There is no difficulty over finance because of the confidence in the aviation industry in the UAE in general. We have managed to obtain finance offers from local and foreign banks," Al Ghaith said.

It had chosen Amman and Beirut as its first destinations because they were important summer destinations, which were seeing active travel movement, he added.

"We opted for a small number of destinations to test our systems and staff."  

Return tickets will start at AED100, but extra fess will be charged for baggage, food and drinks, Al Ghaith confirmed.

Ticket prices had risen since they were first announced, he admitted.

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