UAE: Flydubai Operate In Both Dubai International And Al Maktoum Airports

Flydubai says it will operate from both Dubai International, Al Maktoum Airport.

Budget carrier flydubai confirmed on Monday it will not be moving its operations out of Dubai International Airport and into Al Maktoum Airport, and that it will expand its operations in both airports.

We already have operations in Al Maktoum, and we will grow our operations in Al Maktoum and we will operate in both airports.

The word is not move, it’s expanding in both airports, said Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer of flydubai.

Flydubai currently operates out of both airports, with its hub at Dubai International, the busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger traffic.

Dubai has been working to expand the city’s second airport, Al Maktoum International to absorb expected growth in visitors to Dubai.

Al Ghaith also discussed the carrier’s expansion plans as well as challenges in the operating environment.
The CEO said he saw lots of opportunities in Europe, especially in east and southern Europe.

On Sunday, flydubai announced it will launch direct flights to Helsinki from October 2018.

The launch will make flydubai the first UAE-based carrier to offer year-round services between Dubai and the Finnish capital.

Al Ghaith said flydubai will be launching flights to other routes with a similar DNA to Helsinki.

He said these routes, which are now more viable given flydubai’s partnership with Emirates Airline, will be in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

In July 2017, Emirates and flydubai announced a partnership agreement that include code-sharing and schedule alignment.

On Monday, Emirates and flydubai released passenger numbers for the first six months of their partnership that was announced in July 2017.

The first code-share flights started in October 2017, and in the six months since then, over 400,000 passengers have taken advantage of the partnership.

The two airlines currently code-share on more than 90 destinations, with more routes expected in the coming months including Catania, Thessaloniki, and Helsinki.

Al Ghaith said the next phase of the deal will be to add more destinations, and said the partnership has enhanced revenues for flydubai as it attracts more passengers.

With its partnership, flydubai is now on an expansion drive for the long-term.

At the Dubai Air Show in November, the carrier announced a $27-billion-order for 225 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, a deal that will more than triple its fleet of around 60 aircraft.

While Al Ghaith did not provide details on how the carrier plans to finance that purchase, he confirmed that flydubai will not be tapping financial markets through a bond issuance to raise capital.

He said, however, that the company is looking at all available instruments, including its own resources, bank loans, and sell and leaseback deals.

Discussing the overall operating environment, the CEO cited fuel prices as a key challenge.

The challenge this year will definitely be fuel prices, which have been definitely beyond what we expected.

I think everyone forecasted it would be in the $60-plus range.

Now, it’s $70-plus; it’s too high, he said.



Tourism Observer

UAE: Azizi Brings First Serviced Residences In Dubai

A model of the first serviced residences project at Al Furjan

UAE-based Azizi Developments will mark its entry into Dubai’s booming hospitality sector with the launch of its first serviced residences project, Candace, at Al Furjan next year.

The Dh460 million ($125.2 million) project will witness the launch of two towers by the name of Candace Aster and Candace Acacia at Dubai’s upcoming Al Furjan community, where Azizi Developments is the biggest private-developer with many projects at different stages of construction.

To be run and managed by Candace Hotel and Resorts, the high-end serviced residences will be delivered by third quarter of 2017. Construction work has already begun.

Future projects worth Dh1.8 billion ($490 million) are planned for Healthcare City, Palm Island and Al Furjan. The group plans to launch over 2,000 units of serviced residences by December 2016.

Commenting on the launch, Farhad Azizi, CEO and vice chairman, Azizi Developments, said: “The Dh460-million worth Candace project marks Azizi Developments entry into the Dubai hospitality market. We feel that this is the best of time to invest in long- and short-term service residential projects for a number of reasons. To begin with, the Dubai government has great plans to double the number of tourists from 10 million to 20 million over a period of close to 10 years. This alone opens up a host of investment opportunities, particularly in hospitality sector where, coupled with the positive expectations from Expo 2020, property buyers can look forward to exceptional returns. At Candace, for example, we are forecasting 10 to 12 per cent return on investment, without factoring property appreciation.”

“Unlike other serviced apartment operators who restrict investors in a pool system, Candace Aster and Acacia allow both users and investors to rent out their property or avail services of a management company – Candace in this case – to manage it out for them. Obviously, they have the option of living there as well. We also feel that serviced apartments are fast gathering popularity in Dubai since they provide all the services of a standard hotel service, but at a much lesser cost and with a homely feel. The fact that we’ve already sold 80 per cent of the 1st building should speak of the demand for such accommodations,” added Azizi.

“We are offering decent sized units with all the amenities of a four-star hotel, fully equipped and furnished apartments at a very reasonable price. The studios at Candace start at just Dh433,000 ($117,884) and I think it makes a great deal for investment,” Azizi further explained.

Candace Aster features 227 luxurious apartments with 160 studio apartments, 58 one-bedroom and nine two-bedrooms whereas Candace Acacia features a total of 316 units with 236 Studio apartments and 80 one-bedrooms. Both the towers are G+ 11. Sizes range between 440-sq-ft to 1,380-sq-ft for the apartments. While price for a studio starts at Dh433,000 ($117,884), one-bedroom apartments range between Dh800,000 ($217,800) to Dh1 million ($272,250) and the two-bedroom apartments are available for approx Dh1.2 million ($326,700).

The facilities include landscaped gardens, gymnasium, swimming pool, kids’ pool, spa, restaurants, café and prayer rooms, room service, laundry and valet parking. All the apartments will be fully furnished and equipped with a modern and fresh look at the time of delivery.

Positioned meters away from the metro line, the location provides an easy access to businesszones, such as Jebel Ali, Dubai Investment Park, Al Maktoum Airport, Expo 2020 site, Industrial city and even JLT. From the tourism perspective, the project is at a convenient distance from Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai Marina, Palm Island and Dubai Parks & Resorts, among other tourist hotspots.