By: Amr Adel
Dubai – Mubasher: flydubai expects to receive 12 new Boeing 737 Max 8 jets by the end of 2018, said the company’s CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith on Tuesday on the sidelines of Dubai Airshow 2017.
By 2023, the company will have received 76 of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, Al Ghaith added, noting that the first of these jets will fly on Wednesday on a flight to Bangkok.
flydubai is open to all financing options to fund its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft deal, the top official continued, indicating that his company will choose the most economic of these options, which will be revealed in the coming days.
It’s not at all likely that the company will resort to sukuk issuance as a financing means, especially that it is time-consuming, he stated.
When asked about whether the company will submit a request to the Export Bank of the United States (EXIM), or not, the top official stressed that this was currently off the table.
Al Ghaith added that this decision was attributed to the bank’s unclear situation in the US, noting that flydubai is waiting for clarification before engaging in any transaction with the EXIM.
As for relocation of the company’s operations to Al Maktoum International Airport, Al Ghaith told reporters that flydubai was operating at both Dubai and Al Maktoum International Airports.
The partnership between flydubai and Emirates Airline will enable both companies to use each other’s network to accelerate their development, along with providing passengers with unprecedented travel options, Al Ghaith remarked.
flydubai will decommission all jets bought in the first and second year of its establishment by 2018, the CEO revealed.
The top official told reporters that the company was not considering an initial public offering (IPO) and that this decision should be taken by the government, stressing that the company has no plans in this regard.
Translated by: Muhammad Khalid
