Flydubai adjusts well despite drop of India, Pakistan routes, says CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith

Budget airline flydubai is flying at 65% of its pre-COVID-19 capacity prior to the closure of crucial source markets India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, according to the CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith. “We were doing very well because we were achieving a load factor of 73% (last year),” said Al Ghaith. “We did not operate any flight without covering our costs - because that would be murder.” The airline chief said he was optimistic about summer - “The biggest question would be: which country will be open?” Flydubai said all its employees on unpaid leave have been asked to join back from June onwards. The carrier had given its employees the option to go on unpaid leave or take a redundancy scheme. “And 97% of the people (who were approached) chose to take the unpaid leave – it was a commitment from the people that they wanted to stick with the airline,” said Al Ghaith. To chart the airline industry’s path forward, UAE’s regulators worked closely with the country’s airlines. “We were involved in the decision making from day one,” said Al Ghaith. “No decision was made without consulting, without going through a process. We have a process… where there are three different stages, and we are represented in each of these levels.”<br/>