flydubai Celebrates a Successful First Appearance at the Dubai Airshow

DUBAI , UAE, November 19 /PRNewswire/ -- flydubai, Dubai's first low cost airline has hailed the 2009 Dubai Airshow as a resounding success and has vowed to be back at the next Show in two years' time.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091119/367567-a )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091119/367567-b )

The highlight of the show for flydubai was undoubtedly the visit to the airline's newest Boeing 737-800 aircraft by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum , Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum , Chairman of flydubai on the show's opening day.

This was followed by a raft of announcements starting with the two aircraft financing deals worth US$160m and ending with the announcement yesterday of Bahrain as the tenth destination on the flydubai network.

The second day of the Airshow was a busy one for Dubai's first low cost airline, with flydubai announcing two aircraft financing deals worth a total of US$160m with Macquarie AirFinance and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB). The financing covers the first two aircraft that flydubai received in May of this year and ensures all six aircraft the budget carrier will have by the end of this year are permanently financed.

On the same day, flydubai announced a deal with Goodrich Corporation's (NYSE: GR) Aircraft Wheels & Brakes to supply wheels and carbon brakes for its eventual fleet of more than 50 Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 aircraft. The contract is worth $22 million over its life, including aftermarket support. Aircraft deliveries with the Goodrich wheel and brake equipment are expected to begin in March 2010 .

flydubai also entered into an agreement with Jet Aviation Dubai for the delivery and technical acceptance of its new 737-800 aircraft. Jet Aviation conducted the full technical new aircraft procedure, and worked to ensure the aircraft was delivered on time on October 13 and was able to be immediately taken into operational service. Jet Aviation will provide the same services for the sixth aircraft, which is expected to be delivered in December 2009 .

The fourth day of the Airshow saw flydubai being involved in another set of announcements. First came the deal with Danzas, which will see the logistics company transporting all of flydubai's above and below wing consumables. At the same press conference the airline announced its tenth destination, Bahrain .

The third announcement of the day was when CFM International presented the airline's Chairman, Sh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, and CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith , with medals recognizing flydubai as one of the recipients of the 20,000th CFM56 engine. The aircraft with the 20,000th engine was delivered to the flydubai in October of this year.

The final news of the show for flydubai came when Rockwell Collins announced a deal for a clutch of avionics systems with the airline. The deal includes Rockwell Collins Head-Up

Guidance System (HGS(R)), MultiScan(TM) Hazard Detection System and sensors, as well as Rockwell Collins' Hermes 2100 Ground Data Link system, which will be fitted across the flydubai fleet of Boeing 737-800s. This deal highlights flydubai's commitment to provide the very latest and best safety systems on board the aircraft.

Ghaith Al Ghaith , CEO of flydubai, said: "flydubai's first Dubai Airshow has been phenomenal success as we have been able to show the international aviation community how much we have achieved in such a short space of time. Between now and the next Dubai Airshow we will continue to achieve a lot more.

"The importance of the Dubai Airshow to the global aviation industry should not be underestimated. The show provides an opportunity to meet with a cross section of industry experts that is unrivalled in terms of numbers and seniority. We very much look forward to the next Dubai Airshow in two year's time."