Flydubai mulls in-flight advertisement revenue

Dubai-based low-cost airlines flydubai is mulling in-flight advertisements as an additional revenue source, a senior company official said.

"Currently, we do not have any in-flight advertisements. We are looking at it," Sudhir Sreedharan, senior vice president, commercial (GCC, Subcontinent, Africa) told reporters here on Wednesday.

He said that apart from the passenger fare, the airlines revenue stream includes in-flight entertainment packages and extra charges for in-flight meals, among others.

Sreedharan said the belly space is not much - around one tonne - in the aircraft for the airlines to earn sizeable revenue from carrying cargo.

The airlines on Wednesday added Chennai to its route map -- its eighth Indian destination.

Owned by the Government of Dubai, flydubai will operate three flights to Chennai and a total of 29 weekly flights between Dubai and India.

According to Sreedharan, the average turnaround time for flydubai's flights is around 45 minutes.

He said the airlines flies its aircraft at 90 percent capacity and there is good demand for more seats.

The economy class return fares from Chennai start at Rs.14,000, including 20kg checked-in baggage, while the business class return fares will start at Rs.29,900 and are inclusive of all taxes and 40kg checked-in baggage.

Airline officials said their fares may not be not the cheapest but they are competitive.

Sreedharan said flydubai has ordered 111 new aircraft, the deliveries of which are expected to begin from 2017 onwards.

Currently, the airlines flies to 95 destinations operating 1,400 flights per week.