Flydubai's Fleet Expansion: 15% Growth In Boeing 737 Aircraft By Year-End

UAE-based carrier flydubai is an airline on the up. Its fleet is set to grow by almost 15% this year, with the delivery of 12 new Boeing 737 aircraft, and it has many more on order alongside widebodies from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family. Even so, the carrier believes it would be even bigger were it not for delivery delays.

Still, flydubai’s growing fleet of US-built narrowbody twinjets has enabled it to significantly increase its capacity in recent months, both in the form of opening new routes and by adding seats and frequencies to existing corridors. This expansion forms part of a wider growth strategy, with which flydubai hopes to support both itself and the burgeoning tourism industry in its homeland, the UAE.

flydubai Will Have Almost 100 Aircraft By The End Of The Year

According to present fleet data made available by ch-aviation, flydubai currently has a grand total of 93 aircraft from the Boeing 737 family at its disposal. Of these, 63 are 737 MAX 8s with an average age of 3.5 years old, 27 are 737-800s with an average age of 10.5 years old, and three are 737 MAX 9s with an average age of 6.8 years old. According to the airline, this year has seen it receive seven new jets.

These aircraft, flydubai explains, came onboard between April and August of this year. Between now and the end of 2025, the carrier is set to receive another five Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which will bring its total fleet size to 98. Relative to the 86 planes that it started the year with, this represents an increase of almost 15%. Commenting on these deliveries, Ghaith Al Ghaith, the CEO of flydubai, explained:

“The arrival of these new aircraft is a testament to our long-term strategic vision and our confidence in the future of air travel. Our fleet investment supports our mission to offer greater choice, enhanced convenience, and improved connectivity for our passengers.”

The Carrier Would Be Larger Were It Not For Delivery Delays

While Al Ghaith is understandably pleased at the airline’s fleet growth, he was also keen to point out the fact that “these deliveries are part of a backlog extensively delayed in recent years.” He says that this means that, “despite receiving 12 aircraft this year, [flydubai remains] 20 aircraft behind [its] original projections.”

Even with this lag, the carrier has made impressive steps forward as far as growing its network with the aircraft that it has been able to get hold of is concerned. For instance, flydubai proudly notes that it “has added 11 new destinations this year.” Later on, September and December will see it add two new European routes apiece, with the airline becoming the first to fly from Dubai to Riga and Vilnius.

Among the destinations that flydubai has already added to its extensive and growing portfolio in 2025 are Antalya, Al Alamein, Damascus, and Peshawar. Overall, the carrier’s present network serves some 57 countries, with more than 135 destinations in its portfolio of routes. To support this growth, more staff are being added.

Bigger & Better

Indeed, as part of flydubai’s strategic growth plans, the carrier is aiming to grow its workforce by 10% this year, with a targeted total of 6,500 employees across the board. With this in mind, “the airline has also launched its new Ab Initio Pilot Training Programme (MPL) to shape students into future pilots” for its growing fleet.

While, at an average of 10.5 years, flydubai’s Boeing 737-800 narrowbody twinjets are far from the oldest aircraft in the world, they are from the previous generation of the 737 family. However, passengers traveling on these aircraft need not worry about being left behind as far as the onboard product is concerned, with 23 of the 27 jets already having been retrofitted with lie-flat business class seats and IFE.

First Delivery

February 10, 1968

Number Delivered

11,829

Production Sites

Renton, Washington, United States

Per ch-aviation, flydubai even has an order for 30 widebodies from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family on its books. It bought these at the 2023 Dubai Airshow, although there are some doubts as to whether they will be ready for delivery by 2026 as planned. In any case, it is an airline on the up, and it looks set to “play an even greater role in supporting Dubai’s growth as an international aviation hub.”