flydubai reports strong performance for 2025 thanks to record revenue and passenger growth | News
The Dubai-based airline has delivered another strong financial performance for the financial year ending December 31, 2025, with pre-tax profits of AED 2.2 billion (USD 591 million). Total revenue was AED 13.6 billion (USD 3.7 billion), an increase of 6% compared to AED 12.8 billion (USD 3.5 billion) in 2024.
flydubai’s profit after tax was AED 1.9 billion (USD 531 million), reflecting the strength of its strategic network expansion, continued investments in innovation, improvements to its customer experience and a continued commitment to serving underserved markets.
Commenting on the airline’s financial results, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of flydubai, said: “Under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, flydubai’s performance is closely aligned with Dubai’s broader economic vision, where aviation remains a cornerstone of Dubai’s growth strategy. Reporting its fifth consecutive year of strong profitability is clear evidence of this. flydubai’s disciplined strategy and operational resilience.
During this period, the airline has successfully leveraged Dubai’s position as a leading global aviation hub, enabling it to meet strong, sustained passenger demand. At the same time, flydubai maintained a sharp focus on operational efficiency, ensuring the company continues to invest wisely in its fleet, technology, product and talent development to support its ambitious future growth.”
HH Sheikh Ahmed added: “I am proud that flydubai is playing a central role in supporting His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, in driving the implementation and progress of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) to become a leading global aviation hub. By connecting the city to more than 100 underserved markets, flydubai has helped attract more visitors and strengthening Dubai’s position as a gateway for trade, tourism and opportunity.”
flydubai maintained a robust EBITDA of AED 4.0 billion (USD 1.1 billion) in 2025. Fuel costs accounted for 25% of total operating costs, while closing cash and bank balances (including pre-delivery payments) totaled AED 5.6 billion (USD 1.5 billion). Improving operational efficiency remained a strategic priority, with on-time departure performance across the network improving by 6% compared to 2024.
The airline carried a record 15.7 million passengers in 2025, driven by continued demand for both business and leisure travel across its network. Business Class demand was particularly strong, with take-up increasing by 19% compared to 2024.
Increased frequencies and the expansion of the network across key markets further supported passenger growth, with the Middle East recording an increase of 17%, followed by Africa with 12% and Europe with 12%.
Commenting on flydubai’s 2025 annual results, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “Our strong financial performance in 2025 reflects the resilience of flydubai’s business model and the agility of our people. Throughout the year, we successfully navigated persistent geopolitical uncertainty, ongoing supply chain constraints and rising maintenance costs, while maintaining operational efficiency and commercial momentum.
We are focused on disciplined, strategic growth, expanding our network and strengthening Dubai’s position as a leading global aviation hub. Today, we connect 140 airports to Dubai, facilitating trade, tourism and cultural exchange, while meaningfully contributing to the city’s economic growth. In addition, we have invested significantly in technology, innovation and improving our internal capabilities, while further improving our customer experience. These investments lay a strong foundation for the future and ensure that we remain customer-oriented and people-oriented.”
flydubai continued to expand its operations to meet the increasing demand for travel to and from the United Arab Emirates. Last year, the airline operated 126,604 flights, the second highest number of flights to the country, and recorded more than 400 departures in a single day during peak travel periods in December 2025.
Our network: flydubai continued its strategic route expansion, launching nine new destinations and expanding its network to 140 destinations in 58 countries. These additions include Al Alamein (Egypt); Antalya (Turkey); Bushehr and Qeshm (Iran); Iaşi (Romania); Nairobi (Kenya); Peshawar (Pakistan); Riga (Latvia) and Vilnius (Lithuania). The airline also resumed operations to three destinations: Chişinău (Moldova), Damascus (Syria) and Tabriz (Iran).
Total network capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometers (ASKM), increased by 6%, while revenue passenger kilometers (RPKM) increased by 6% and passenger revenue improved by 3% compared to 2024.
Our fleet: flydubai has taken delivery of 12 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, expanding the fleet to 97 aircraft with an average age of 5.5 years. The airline retired three Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which were returned to their lessors.
The airline also completed its retrofit program, which will retrofit eight new-generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft, bringing the total number of modernized aircraft in the fleet to 25. This is part of the airline’s ongoing efforts to improve product consistency and provide a more cohesive travel experience for passengers in both Business and Economy Class.
The year ended with a strong presence at the Dubai Airshow, where new aircraft orders were announced, including 150 Airbus A321neos and 75 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. This strategic addition diversifies the airline’s narrowbody fleet and strengthens its long-term strategy.
Sustainability: The Boeing 737 MAX remains central to flydubai’s operational efficiency strategy, delivering 14% greater fuel efficiency than its predecessor. In 2025, flydubai launched a solar energy initiative on its campus to support the use of clean energy, which is expected to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 1,211 tons.
In November 2025, the airline signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration and joined United for Wildlife’s Transport Taskforce to help combat illegal wildlife trafficking. This move reinforces flydubai’s commitment to enforcing international regulations.
Our customer experience: In November 2025, the airline expanded its Economy Class offering across all flights by introducing in-flight meals and entertainment for all Economy Class fares. This milestone marks a significant evolution of the airline’s business model and underlines its commitment to putting customers first and responding to dynamic market needs.
flydubai has also signed an agreement to introduce free, high-speed Starlink onboard connectivity to its fleet from 2026, further improving the onboard experience.
Our partnerships: The strategic partnership between Emirates and flydubai enabled more than 2.5 million passengers to enjoy seamless connectivity across a joint network of 243 destinations in 103 countries through Dubai’s global aviation hub by 2025.
During the year, the airline signed eleven new interline agreements, expanding its portfolio to 42 interline partners and offering customers access to more than 300 destinations across the combined flydubai and partner networks, in addition to the three codeshare agreements with Air Canada, Emirates and United Airlines.
Our workforce: The airline’s ongoing recruitment drive increased its workforce by 11%, bringing its total workforce to 6,763 employees.
flydubai also strengthened its internal capabilities with the launch of its Ab Initio Pilot Training Program and Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Apprenticeship. These initiatives are part of the airline’s long-term strategy to support growing demand from its expanding fleet and network over the next decade.
Industry recognition: flydubai received the ‘Trailblazer Award for Outstanding New Service Launch’ and was named ‘Airline of the Year’ for the second time at the Aviation Achievement Awards 2025. The airline also received the Four-Star Major Airline rating from APEX and was recognized as the ‘Airline with the Best Connectivity in the Middle East’ at the Business Traveler Middle East Awards 2025.
Outlook statement for 2026
Commenting on the 2026 outlook, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “As we look ahead to 2026, travel demand remains healthy despite ongoing challenges. The fundamentals of our business are strong and we are well positioned to meet this continued demand for both leisure and business travel across our network.
Our focus remains firmly on laying the foundation for future growth. We prioritize investments in AI-driven technologies, improve our processes through greater digitalization and continue to develop our people, while putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.
This year we launched our Executive Management Program and Management Training Program to ensure our leaders are fit for the future. We are also significantly expanding our training portfolio, including our Cadet Programs for Pilots, Engineers and Coordinators, to build a strong pipeline of talent that will support our long-term growth. This is further enhanced by our Flight Training Centre, which is now equipped with four full-fledged flight simulators, giving us greater control and flexibility over the training schedules for our pilots and potentially other airlines in the future. We look forward to the inauguration of our new Aircraft Maintenance Center in Dubai South, which is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2026. The multi-million dollar facility will provide a higher level of control and faster maintenance for the airline’s growing fleet.
We expect to take delivery of 12 aircraft in 2026, depending on manufacturer schedules. Seven of these will be Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, increasing our Business Class capacity, and five will be Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. These economical aircraft support both our growth ambitions and our sustainability commitments. We will also add frequencies on selected routes and continue to evaluate new growth opportunities, including the launch of Bangkok later this year, which will mark a key gateway to Southeast Asia.
None of this would be possible without the dedication and professionalism of our people. Their continued focus on operational efficiency, innovation, on-time performance and customer excellence positions us strongly for the year ahead and reinforces our confidence in flydubai’s continued trajectory of sustainable growth.”
