FlyDubai announced this Tuesday, the 18th, an order for 150 Airbus A321 aircraft, a major expansion for the low-cost airline, ‘sister’ of Emirates, the long-haul air carrier in Abu Dhabi.
Those responsible did not disclose the order price for the A321 medium-haul aircraft.
The order marks a new moment for FlyDubai, which previously operated only with Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet.
Etihad Airways, one of the UAE’s two national airlines, had already ordered 16 Airbuses as part of its expansion efforts as its economic situation improves.
The order includes six A330-900s, seven A350-1000s and three A350F freighters, the companies revealed at a press conference, without revealing the cost of the deal.
Etihad made a record profit of €476 million (€410.5 million) in 2024, part of a financial turnaround for the Abu Dhabi-based airline.
While it is still a modest profit compared to rival Emirates’ record profits of $5.2 billion (€4.49 billion) in the last fiscal year, it represents an important turnaround for Etihad.
Abu Dhabi’s rulers launched Etihad in 2003, rivaling Emirates, which has a larger fleet and extensive network.
Etihad faced difficulties with its business plan and adopted cost-cutting measures even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since 2016, Etihad has lost around $6 billion (5.18 billion euros) due to its aggressive acquisition of stakes in airlines from Europe to Asia to compete with Emirates and Qatar Airways.
On Monday, Emirates ordered 65 Boeing 777-9 aircraft, valued at US$38 billion (€32.7 billion) at list prices.
The president of Emirates, Tim Clark, acknowledged to journalists the delays that have affected Boeing in the delivery of the 777-9, however he said he believes that the scale of the airline’s purchase could make even the White House take notice and put pressure on the manufacturer to complete the aircraft.
Clark also acknowledged that Emirates and FlyDubai will be able to quickly expand their routes with new aircraft once the emirate expands Al Maktoum International Airport.
Dubai has a $35 billion (€30.1 billion) project to expand the airport to five parallel runways and 400 boarding gates, which is expected to be completed within the next decade.