flydubai to introduce the Boeing 737 MAX 8 to its fleet in September

27.04.2017 — News

DUBAI.

flydubai will make its first flight on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in September this year, according to Jeyhun Efendi, the company's SVP Commercial Operations (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) in an interview with RusBusinessNews at the Arabian Travel Market.

Dubai-based flydubai signed a contract with Boeing for the delivery of 75 MAX 8 in 2013. The first aircraft will be delivered to flydubai at the end of the summer, and five more will arrive before the end of the year. flydubai will be the first airline in the Middle East with MAX 8 in its fleet.

The salon design of the new aircraft will be developed by JPA Design studio and RECARO will supply seats. One of the key questions is how many seats will be in the business class; 8, 12 or 16. In contrast to traditional low cost airlines, flydubai has been operating the Boeing 737-800 in a two-class configuration since 2013, reflecting an increase in demand for business class by 2.4 times over this period.

According to Jeyhun Efendi, the more efficient MAX 8 will initially be operated on the longest flights from Dubai - to Bangkok, Prague and Moscow. New aircraft will gradually replace the currently used Boeing 737-800 NG.

Russia remains an important market for flydubai and with the changes in visa regulations (Russians now get visas free-of-charge on arrival) Dubai is increasingly popular amongst Russian tourists. As Jeyhun Efendi noted, flights between Dubai and Yekateinburg have been increased to a daily service since April and flydubai is considering the reintroduction of flights to Ufa and Novosibirsk as well as potentially launching a new route to St Petersburg.

This month flydubai was named "Best Low-Cost Airline serving the Middle East” at the 2017 Business Traveller Middle East Awards.