Flydubai set to make first profit this year

Gaith Al Gaith, chief executive officer of flydubai, said that the Dubai-based low-cost carrier is expected to make its first profit in 2012 despite challenges facing the industry with the rise in oil prices. "We expect in our third year at flydubai to make a profit, but it's going to be a difficult year with the increase in oil prices," Al Gaith told Gulf News on the sidelines of the Global Aerospace Summit which is taking place in Abu Dhabi. "Here in the United Arab Emirates, and in Dubai specifically, there's a lot of activity going on and there's growth," he said. "However, it's very difficult to talk about a figure because we're still in the first quarter of the year." Flydubai has a fleet of 23 aircraft and is scheduled to take delivery of four new Boeing 737-800 aircraft by the end of this year. In 2008 the carrier signed an agreement for 50 Boeing 737-800s at the Farnborough Airshow, worth $3.74 billion (Dh13.7 billion) at list prices. The rest of the aircraft are expected for delivery by the end of 2016. It has been reported flydubai is currently in talks with Boeing and Airbus for more aircraft orders and that it will place its next order in a few years. In its third year of operations, flydubai currently flies to more than 45 destinations.