Emirates and flydubai are strategic partners
dubai — Emirates airline and discount specialist flydubai are not just sister companies but partners — sharing more routes, schedules and costs than ever before.
What’s more, it’s been a resounding success for both the airlines, Emirates president Tim Clark said in interviews last month.
“Focusing the network according to two carriers playing their role is working well,” he told Bloomberg TV. “We haven’t finished that exercise by any stretch of the imagination.”
The carrier evolved from a twoplane outfit into the world’s largest long-haul carrier, using Dubai’s amenable location to connect Europe and the United States with Asia, Africa and the rest of the Middle East.
Last year, Emirates flew a record 58.8 million passengers from its exclusive terminal at Dubai International Airport, which includes a purpose-built facility for the Airbus SE A380 superjumbo.
In July 2017, the two carriers entered into an expanded code-share agreement intended to prepare the way for rationalising networks and aligning schedules.
There are 83 destinations currently available under the codeshare, and that’s set to reach 240 by 2022.
Meanwhile, both airlines have been eliminating overlapping routes and “wasteful resources,” Clark said.
There are still 30 destinations served by both Emirates and flydubai aircraft, but the partnership has enabled the carriers to reduce overlap.
Flydubai, which solely operates Boeing Co 737 narrow-bodies, is now the only operator to Multan in Pakistan, for example.
Flydubai will also take on the Dubai-Zagreb route for four months from December to better cope with the traditional drop in demand over the winter. But despite the increased collaboration, Emirates and flydubai aren’t planning a full-blown merger, according to Clark.
Operationally, Emirates and flydubai reduced the minimum connection time of 120 minutes between their two terminals in Dubai. And starting from December, flights to 10 of flydubai’s destinations will operate from Emirates’ Terminal 3 to further speed changeovers.
“Now we have our commercial strategy, our network strategy and our fleet strategy are more synergised,” Clark said.
“We think there is a much greater value proposition to the owner, he added.”
Focusing the network according to two carriers playing their role is working well. We haven’t finished that exercise by any stretch of the imagination
Tim Clark, president, Emirates