flydubai and Airbus have announced an MOU for 150 Airbus A321neos, representing a milestone order for the Dubai-based carrier, which currently operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet.
Announced on Day Two of the 
Dubai Airshow 2025, the airline says it expects deliveries to begin in 2031 and will help fuel the low-cost carrier’s growth at Al Maktoum International Airport.
flydubai Orders 150 Airbus A321neo
As heavily rumored in the lead-up to the Dubai Airshow, flydubai has opted for Airbus’s largest narrowbody, the Airbus A321neo, with a commitment for 150 jets and another 100 options. In a signing ceremony attended by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of flydubai, and Christian Scherer, CEO Commercial Aircraft at Airbus, the airline put pen to paper on its first-ever aircraft order with Airbus.
The new aircraft signal an exciting future for the carrier, which intends to significantly expand its network in the coming years. The deal is also a major coup for Airbus, which has managed to procure flydubai’s custom away from Boeing. The Dubai LCC currently flies almost 100 Boeing 737 jets, including the 737-800, MAX 8 and MAX 9 models, but will be operating a split fleet within the next six or seven years.
Christian Scherer commented,
“We welcome flydubai, one of the Middle East’s most ambitious and fast-growing carriers, as a new Airbus customer. The decision to invest in and introduce the A321neo into its fleet is another endorsement of the added value Airbus brings in terms of range, efficiency and passenger comfort.”
Deliveries To Begin In 2031
According to flydubai, its new Airbus narrowbodies will begin arriving from 2031, diversifying the airline’s fleet and enabling major growth in the years ahead. The A321neo will more than double the size of flydubai’s fleet, which consists of 96 Boeing 737 aircraft. The deal is rumored to involve multiple variants of the A321neo, which means a portion of the orderbook will be for the A321LR and/or A321XLR.
As it stands, flydubai serves a vast network of over 130 destinations across 57 countries. The airline’s main hub is Dubai International Airport (DXB), where it primarily operates out of Terminal 2. However, flydubai plans to significantly expand its operations out of Dubai’s second airport — Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) — which the A321neo will play a key role in. While DWC’s growth has been much slower than expected, Dubai has still earmarked the airport to become the largest in the world, with Emirates and flydubai slated to move over within the next decade.
The A321neo typically seats between 180 and 220 passengers in a two-class configuration, but is certified to carry a maximum of 244 in an all-economy layout. The exact specifications of flydubai’s A321neos won’t be revealed yet, but the carrier will almost certainly offer two cabin classes like the majority of its existing fleet, rather than a high-density configuration like Qatar Airways’ all-economy A321neos.
Major Blow For Boeing
Given its prominent role in transforming Dubai into the global aviation hub it is today, the carrier has traditionally used the Dubai Airshow as a platform for major announcements. Up until today, it has made several announcements at the Dubai Airshow in previous years, but these have all been for Boeing-made aircraft.
In 2013, flydubai announced an $11.4 billion order for 75 MAX and 11 737-800 jets, followed by a $27 billion commitment for up to 225 MAXs, the largest single-aisle aircraft order in the Middle East. The Dubai airline then made its first-ever widebody aircraft order with a deal for 30 787 Dreamliners valued at $11 billion.
|
flydubai Fleet |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Aircraft Type |
Total |
Avg. Age |
|
Boeing 737-800 |
26 |
10.7 Years |
|
Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
67 |
3.6 Years |
|
Boeing 737 MAX 9 |
3 |
7.0 Years |
|
Total |
96 |
5.7 Years |
With the A321neo, flydubai is getting a single-aisle jet with higher capacity than anything Boeing can offer, as well as the range needed to support flydubai’s operations to Africa, Asia and Europe out of the Middle East. The 737 MAX 10 would have been a strong option in mind for flydubai, but its ongoing certification problems and lack of range make it less ideal than the A321neo.
