flydubai Grows 737 MAX 9 Fleet, Adds Premium Capacity |

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flydubai has said it will welcome 12 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in 2026, seven of which will be 737 MAX 9s, allowing the carrier to expand its business class capacity.

On February 26, 2026, flydubai unveiled its 2025 results, with the airline ending the year with a net profit of $531 million, compared to $611 million in 2024. Its annual revenue was $3.7 billion, while the annual profit before tax was $591 million.

flydubai carried 15.7 million passengers in 2025, 2.5 million of whom enjoyed “seamless connectivity across a joint network of 243 destinations in 103 countries” with Emirates at Dubai International Airport (DXB).

The airline also added 11 interline agreements, which will complement its three codeshare partnerships, including with Air Canada, Emirates, and United Airlines.

Capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), was up 6% year-on-year (YoY), as was revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), while yields improved by 3% YoY. Unit revenues, or revenue per ASK (RASK), calculated using flydubai’s numbers in 2024 and 2025, were relatively flat.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of flydubai, said that the airline’s yearly results reflected “the resilience of flydubai’s business model and the agility of our people.”

“Throughout the year, we successfully navigated ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, continued supply chain constraints, and rising maintenance costs, while maintaining operational efficiency and commercial momentum.”

Al Ghaith added that flydubai’s focus going forward is disciplined and strategic growth, with the airline continuing to expand its network at DXB. “Today, we connect 140 airports to Dubai,” the CEO continued, with the carrier saying that it added nine new destinations to its network in 2025.

It also resumed flights to three destinations, including Damascus International Airport (DAM), serving the Syrian capital.

flydubai took delivery of 12 737 MAX 8 aircraft in 2025, retiring three 737-800s during the year, per planespotters.net.

Al Ghaith detailed that, subject to potential delivery delays, flydubai expects to welcome 12 737 MAXs in 2026: five 737 MAX 8 and seven 737 MAX 9 aircraft. The latter will help the airline expand its business-class capacity, the CEO pointed out.

During the Dubai Airshow in November 2025, flydubai ordered up to 250 Airbus A321neo and up to 150 737 MAX aircraft, which includes options.

Compared to its 737 MAX 8s, flydubai’s 737 MAX 9s have four more business class seats but six fewer economy class seats, with the airline looking to increase unit revenues with additional business class capacity during the year.

Current schedules show that flydubai plans to increase its total departing business class seats by 3.3% YoY, per Cirium’s Diio Mi.

“We will also add frequencies across selected routes and continue to evaluate new growth opportunities, including the launch of Bangkok later this year, which will mark an important gateway into Southeast Asia.”

Al Ghaith concluded that demand for travel is “healthy,” despite ongoing challenges. flydubai has strong business fundamentals, making it well-positioned “to meet this sustained appetite for both leisure and business travel across our network.”