FlyDubai announces record profit as Gulf air travel booms
Budget carrier FlyDubai has announced record profits amid a surge in air travel following the lifting of pandemic restrictions
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Budget carrier FlyDubai announced record profits on Wednesday, benefitting from a surge in air travel following the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
The state-owned carrier, based in the business and tourism hub of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, reported $327 million in profit in 2022, up 43% from the previous year. Annual revenue for 2022 was up 72%, to $2.5 billion, it said.
“We realized early on the great opportunities that Dubai provides and remained focused and ready to scale up our operations once the demand for travel returned,” Ghaith Al Ghaith, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Traffic more than doubled last year at Dubai's airport, the busiest in the world for international travel, but still lags a record set in 2019 before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
FlyDubai said it carried 10.6 million passengers in 2022, up 89% from the previous year. The sister airline to long-haul carrier Emirates has also ramped up capacity, with the delivery of 17 new aircraft and the hiring of some 1,300 employees over the past year, it said.
In 2020, FlyDubai had reported losses of $194 million.