Dubai low-cost carrier Flydubai on Monday said the company was open to investing in an Indian airline if a “good opportunity” comes by. However, at present the focus was on growing the airline in Dubai.
Asked about plans to invest in an Indian airline, Flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith told reporters here that “We have dialogue all the time with Indian airlines and we have bilateral agreements. If we find a good opportunity, we will be interested but first we will have to go and seek approval from the shareholders. The focus from the shareholders is to grow the airline in Dubai, and right now we have no mandate to go outside.”
The government allowed foreign airlines to pick up to 49 per cent stake in Indian carriers in September 2012. Since then Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has picked up 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways. Two greenfield ventures AirAsia India and Tata-SIA Airlines too have been registered and are to start operations shortly. Recently Qatar Airways also evinced interest in picking up equity stake in budget carrier IndiGo.
Flydubai which added 10 new flights to Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram this month is optimistic of getting success in the country. “There is no worry about success of these routes,” Mr. Ghaith said. He added, “More than 2.4 billion people live within a five-and-a-half hour radius of Dubai. The opportunity for us to provide connectivity is huge.” The airline is now operating about 3,000 seats a week to India out of the allotment of 5,000 seats. The company at present has a fleet of 37 Boeing 737 aircraft, which will go up to 43 by the end of December 2014.
