flydubai starts daily flights to Colombo

By Cheranka Mendis

Dubai’s low cost airline, flydubai yesterday announced the increase of frequencies to Sri Lanka, going from five to seven weekly flights since 11 March following a surge in passenger numbers.

flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith noted that with the changes in flight timing by moving on from four flights a week during its entry into Sri Lanka 18 months ago, a 80% growth rate had been noted.

With the country’s tourism potential which went unexploited for the duration of the internal conflict now being tapped, the airline will grow at 40% average for the next few years in line with the increases in arrivals. In 2011, more than 30,000 travellers are said to have travelled with flydubai to Sri Lanka.

Overall traffic growth between Dubai and Colombo has increased 30% in 2010 and 7% last year with the passenger increase being noted as 125% last year over 2010.

Ghaith acknowledging the airline’s commitment to the local market noted that flydubai was ready to play its role in partaking in developing tourism in the country now and in the future.

“Sri Lanka is not yet in the ideal position when it comes to arrivals as the industry was more or less stagnant for the last 30 years. If the industry was allowed to grow without restrictions, the country would today be welcoming five million tourists instead of one million. In this respect the industry will take a double digit growth formation for the next five to 10 years to catch up with the world market.”

Sri Lanka is an important market for the airline, Ghaith said, noting that traffic to Sri Lanka was on an upward movement. “After the change in flights timing, traffic from the Soviet Union increased from less than 500 passengers a month on this route to 1,700.”

Sri Lanka is a profitable operation now with the increase in frequencies for the low cost airline, he said.

Ghaith also noted that flydubai was not only interested in the developments of the Bandaranaike International Airport but also in the new airport in Hambantota. Currently the airline is engaged in studying the Mattala Airport and its pros and cons. Mattala Airport is being looked at as a secondary destination by the airline.

On arrivals, Ghaith noted that a good portion of the traffic to Sri Lanka was from the existing traffic in the region and the two countries.

Now in its third year of operation, a year marked as the star of “making money” according to Ghaith, has done well in 2011. Operating 23 of 50 Boeing 737-800 NG aircrafts ordered by the company at its inception, airline capacity grew by 80%, the number of passenger grew by 83% and revenue saw a 150% increase,” he acknowledged.

The challenge now is increasing fuel prices, he said. “As fuel takes up 40% of the cost, the only way to grow is to add that in the price. However, we have worked hard to ensure the yield gives acceptable returns as profit.”

The unique proposition of flydubai is that travellers only pay for service they wish to receive, be it on-demand in-flight entertainment, extra legroom seats or onboard refreshments.