ABU DHABI // Misery in the US airline industry has brought a shower of good fortune including a fleet of 50 aeroplanes and a seasoned executive to FlyDubai, the emirate's new low-cost carrier.
The Government-owned airline announced yesterday it had recruited the senior executive of Skybus Airlines, a recently defunct US budget airline that, like more than two dozen other carriers this year, fell victim to high fuel prices and slackening demand.
The news comes just days after FlyDubai said it had acquired the production slots from several struggling American US carriers for 50 Boeing 737s.
Kenneth Gile, the former president and chief operating officer of Skybus, will now serve as chief operating officer for FlyDubai. Mr Gile previously spent two decades at Southwest Airlines. In his new position with FlyDubai, he will be responsible for day-to-day operations, strategic planning, inflight services, ground operations, flight operations, maintenance and engineering at the new Dubai start-up.
FlyDubai will also take delivery of its new aircraft much earlier than expected, as three US carriers have deferred their deliveries of Boeing 737s. The earlier deliveries will enable the airline to fly to more destinations much sooner than it anticipated. The carrier will begin operations next year from the new Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali.
In an industry where punctuality is the difference between profit and loss, FlyDubai's timing appears to be impeccable. Had the new start-up begun its planning one year earlier, it would have had to contend with one of the largest aircraft order backlogs ever. In the market for single-aisled aircraft - the aeroplane of choice for budget carriers - Boeing and Airbus have a backlog of nearly 4,000 orders on their books.
But with airlines facing one of the worst crises in aviation due to the record rise in fuel prices and sagging economic growth, many have chosen to forego expansion plans in an attempt to curb spending and weather the financial storm.
Experienced pilots have also been let go in the US as a result of the airline restructuring, giving FlyDubai an opportunity to complete its staffing requirements faster and satisfy its aggressive expansion plans.
FlyDubai intends to fly to 12 destinations in its first year of operations, using four leased 737s from Babcock & Brown, an Australian lessor, and the first of its new aircraft from Boeing.
The carrier's rapid growth plans are expected to pose a challenge to the current regional market leader for budget travel, Air Arabia. The Sharjah-based airline current operates a fleet of 15 aircraft, with 39 more on order.
@Email:igale@thenational.ae
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
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Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions