FlyDubai gets latest delivery in time for Doha inaugural flight

Flydubai has taken delivery of its fifth aircraft in five months keeping the Emirates' low cost carrier on schedule for its growth plans. The Boeing 737-800NG is part of the historic order of 50 aircraft that flydubai placed with the American plane maker at the Farnborough Airshow last year and is financed by the US$320million sale and leaseback deal recently announced with GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS).

The new aircraft will immediately be put into service on flydubai’s first GCC route, Doha, with the first flight being on Sunday, October 18, 2009.

The new twice-daily service to Doha is the first GCC destination for flydubai and the first direct service between Dubai and Qatar to be operated by a low cost airline. The airline also routes to Beirut-Lebanon, Amman-Jordan, Damascus and Aleppo-Syria, Alexandria-Egypt and Djibouti-Africa.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai said: “In general, this is a difficult time for the aviation industry, but we are extremely happy with the progress flydubai has made since we became operational at the beginning of June.

“Taking an airline from a theory on a piece of paper to being fully operational and carrying thousands of passengers every week has been a huge challenge and it is tremendously satisfying to see it working so well.

“flydubai is delivering on the promise to ensure people in this region have access to simple, uncomplicated, low fare travel and more people really are travelling to more destinations more often.