Emirates, Flydubai Announce Extensive Partnership

Emirates and flydubai recently announced an extensive partnership, which is expected to provide customers with more travel options and allow the Dubai-based airlines scale up their operations and accelerate growth.

The Emirates and flydubai teams are currently working on a number of initiatives spanning commercial, network planning, airport operations, customer journey and frequent flyer program alignment.  According to an announcement, the first enhanced code-sharing arrangements will start in the last quarter of 2017.

The partnership goes beyond code-sharing and includes integrated network collaboration with coordinated scheduling. The new model will give flydubai customers seamless connectivity to Emirates’ worldwide destinations spanning six continents. For Emirates’ customers, it opens up flydubai’s robust regional network.

By 2022, the combined network of Emirates and flydubai is expected to reach 240 destinations, served by a combined fleet of 380 aircraft.

” Both airlines have grown independently and successfully over the years, and this new partnership will unlock the immense value that the complementary models of both companies can bring to consumers, each airline, and to Dubai,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Group and chairman of flydubai.

The two airlines will also further develop their hub at Dubai International, aligning their systems and operations to ensure a seamless travel experience through the ultra-modern airport, which is currently the world’s busiest for international passengers.

Fully owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), both Emirates and flydubai are operated independently and under separate management teams.

Emirates today has a fleet of 259 aircraft, flying to 157 destinations (including 16 cargo-only points). Moreover, flydubai operates 58 new-generation Boeing 737 aircraft to 95 destinations. The current combined network comprises 216 unique destination points.