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Gulf Times
Thursday, May 14, 2015

COMMENT
Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah
Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed
Production Editor: C P Ravindran

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GULF TIMES
Bayern restore
their pride but
future uncertain
Bayern Munich restored some pride by defeating
Barcelona 3-2 in the Champions League semi-nal
second leg but the top German sides future seemed
uncertain.
Barcas dancers steal the hope, said the
Sueddeutsche paper, referring to the twinkling frontline of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar who
made the difference in the 5-3 aggregate win for Barca.
Neymar struck two crucial away goals in Munich to
ease the nerves of the visitors after Medhi Benatias
early header gave the passionate home fans hope a
wonder could be in the offing.
But realistically, everyone was aware the damage had
been done in the catastrophic nal 13 minutes of the
rst leg in Barcelona which left Bayern chasing a 3-0
decit.
We played well and we leave the stadium today with
our dignity intact, Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said.
Obviously were down because we wanted to make
the nal in Berlin, but wed already lost this semi-nal
in Barcelona.
Mario Goetze, the scorer of Germanys World Cup
winning goal last summer was left on the bench for the
majority of both legs, being handed only late cameos.
And that was despite Bayern missing attackers
Franck Ribery and
Arjen Robben and using
Robert Lewandowski
when not fully t in the
rst leg.
The Munich paper
Abendzeitung led
the call for change
with: Time to make
adjustments at Bayern,
pointing out that Barca
had invested over 150
million euros (168.8 million dollars) in their team
before the season.
Bayern have the nances to go on their own spending
spree if desired but with Guardiola only signed up for
another year, the war-chest may not be opened if it is
felt he will leave after next season.
The rebuilding job at Bayern does not necessarily
require a complete overhaul of the squad. But
several players are the wrong side of 30 and there
is no guarantee Robben and Ribery will completely
overcome the impact of injury and time.
And while most are understanding that Guardiola
was always likely to struggle with an injury-hit squad
against Barca, his tactical approach is still being called
into question.
Barcelona were at times magnicent, but it was
inexcusable for a club of Bayerns stature and a
manager of Guardiolas obsession with detail that
at time they looked like a rabble, Britains Guardian
wrote.
With the Champions League exit following the
shock defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the German
Cup semi-nal, Bayern have only the Bundesliga title
to show for their efforts this season.
That will be celebrated after the nal match of the
campaign against Mainz on May 23. But then the issue
of the future for Bayern will rise quickly - for players,
Guardiola and officials alike.

The rebuilding
job at Bayern
does not
necessarily
require a
complete
overhaul

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Since its inception in 2009, flydubai has developed a strategy of opening routes not only within the Gulf, and further afield across the Middle East, Africa and subcontinent, but deeper into central and eastern Europe.

Flydubai launches new

routes to push boundaries
Doha was ydubais rst
GCC market, launched
within four months of the
airlines June 2009
start-up

By Updesh Kapur
Doha

e will not grow further

north, south, east and
west, says an adamant
Ghaith Al Ghaith, boss
of the Gulfs youngest scheduled
airline.
Straight to the point, the chief
executive officer of ydubai dismisses
suggestion that he will change course
and chart a new strategic direction for
his airline. For the moment that is.
The talking point came up during a
meeting with the dynamic CEO as he
showcased the best attributes of the
airlines inight offering at a recent
travel show in Dubai.
Since its inception in 2009, ydubai
has developed a strategy of opening
routes not only within the Gulf, and
further aeld across the Middle East,
Africa and sub-continent, but deeper
into central and eastern Europe.
The geographical focus is ve-anda-half hours ying time from home
base in Dubai. But the airline has been
stretching the limit in recent years to
get the best out of its aircraft and the
best out of market conditions.
The Russian capital Moscow to the
north; Tanzanias capital city of Dar
Es Salaam to the south; Prague to the
west; and Bangladeshs second largest
city to the east are currently the
furthest points served by ydubai.
The Czech capital Prague takes pole
position as the furthest point own
at six hours 20 minutes. Flydubais
operations extend to 87 destinations,
rapidly approaching the magical 100
gure. With a near 50-strong eet of
all Boeing 737-800 aircraft, it is just
four months away from reaching the
milestone half century of planes.
Route announcements have come
through thick and fast over the past
six years. A record 23 new routes
were launched in the space of just 12
months during 2014. So far this year,
11 routes have been inaugurated. New
ights to destinations in Russia and
central Europe have surprised many as
these parts of the world were not seen
as prize air corridors.
But to the contrary: the market
potential, the traffic demand and the
lure of ying a new wave of tourists to
Dubai and ying expats back home at
lucrative fares have been the stimulus
for planning the routes.
In recent weeks, ydubai announced
a Russian expansion despite a sharp
fall in visitor numbers to Dubai as a
result of woeful economic conditions

in Russia. With Novosibirsk the

most populous Russian city after the
capital Moscow and St Petersburg and
the countrys fth largest urban area
Nizhny Novogorod joining the network
this year, ydubais reach in Russia will
extend to 10 cities, becoming one of its
key source markets.
Similarly, ydubai is making a huge
push into Iran, announcing a start-up
to Lar, adding to the recent launch of
operations to Ahwaz, Bandar Abbas,
Esfahan, Hamadan, Shiraz and Tabriz,
and already established Tehran and
Mashad.
Its Iranian adventure will grow to
nine points, but like Russia, the carrier
is looking for more opportunities.
The same applies to India and Saudi
Arabia where ydubai is keen on more
capacity, currently ying to nine
destinations and 12 cities respectively.
Pakistan too, with only three points
served, is a focus of growth.
We do not have enough capacity in
these markets, therefore continuing
to look for more traffic rights, says
Al Ghaith. Passenger demand is
strong yet capacity is not sufficient to
serve these key markets. Across our
network, 57 points were previously
underserved or had no direct ights
from Dubai at all, so our growth
strategy is clear to open up more
undeserved markets.
This is through new routes and
increasing frequency on existing
routes to provide the travelling public
with greater choice.
We are in a business where
there are always opportunities and
ydubais strategy is to explore them.
We look at the geographical location
and the populations served and
make a decision based on the market
opportunities that exist.
Multiple frequency is a key
component of the strategy. Doha
was ydubais rst GCC market,
launched within four months of the
airlines June 2009 start-up. From
a twice-daily operation at the time,
today it operates 10 daily ights on
the Doha-Dubai route. Alongside
home-grown carrier Qatar Airways
14 daily ights and Emirates sevendaily services competing directly
with ydubai to Dubai International
Airport, a combined 31 ights each
day, each way, has made the QatarDubai market the busiest air corridor
in the Gulf.
Clearly pointing ngers at
ydubai, Qatar Airways last week
said its newly-branded Doha-Dubai
shuttle service was in response to a

dumping of capacity on the route

by the competition. But Al Ghaith
takes it in his stride, simply saying
competition is healthy and there is a
market for all.
The pace of growth has been
phenomenal. Like its full-service big
three peers in the Gulf Emirates,
Etihad and Qatar Airways ydubai
has pursued an aggressive growth
strategy. But unlike its peers marketing
strategies, ydubai promotes itself as
an airline offering ights at affordable
prices. And it vehemently shies away
from the low-cost, no-frills, budget
carrier tag, instead preferring to
promote efficiency keeping operating
costs at a minimum.
In operating to destinations that
are either already served by other
carriers, or not at all, the ydubai
name strapped across the fuselage
helps fulll its key goal of supporting

Route
announcements
have come through
thick and fast over
the past six years
Brand Dubai. And it is the Dubai brand
that is being pushed to further elevate
the most visited and most preferred
destination in the Gulf. With Dubai set
to take its premier status to a new level
by hosting Expo 2020, a six-month
event drawing nations from around
the world to promote international
trade, commerce, innovation and
sustainable development, the seeds
are rmly being planted to attract
more and more visitors. Two-thirds
of ydubais passenger traffic ends up
in Dubai while the rest transfers onto
other ights, effectively creating a
successful hub-and-spoke model.
Many observers said ydubai,
launched by the government of
Dubai, would eat into the business
of sister operator Emirates because
of a sizeable number of overlapping
routes. Emirates supported the launch
of ydubai in the initial phase, but
the business models are distinctly
different. Complimentary food,
checked-in baggage and inight
entertainment all included in the
ticket price of Emirates full-service
operation versus the no-frills
offering of ydubai where different
components of the travel experience
are paid for by passengers. By

Ghaith Al Ghaith: Flydubai Chief Executive Officer

charging for food onboard, headsets

and additional checked-in baggage,
revenue earned offsets the cost to help
balance the numbers in its favour.
Recognising a strong market for
corporate traffic, ydubai brought
onboard a Business Class product
tted on most of its eet over the two
three years. A clear departure from
the low-cost, no-frills model, but the
introduction of a business cabin has
given rise to a hybrid title in between
low-cost and full-service.
Al Ghaith once again says
opportunities are the key to the
airlines philosophy and with an
evolving strategy, is always looking
at how the business can be taken one
step further.
But he remains adamant that
despite the carrier spreading its
route network further aeld, longer
range ights to western Europe and
southeast Asia are not on the cards.
Doing so will require a complete eet
rethink which, he says, is not being
considered.
We will not grow further north,
south, east and west, he says.
We are bringing in new planes from
next year as part of our eet renewal
programme, but they are all designed
to operate within a radius of six
hours. The rst of 111 new Boeing 737
aircraft, including the next generation
737 MAX 8s, are set to be delivered
over a seven-year period from 2016.
These aircraft, a record order worth
US$8.8bllion, would typically add
a further 30 minutes to the existing
single-aisle planes ying time.
Flydubai has come a long way in
a short time span that has seen its
network expand rapidly, a business
model that has been accepted by
consumers, and a commitment to ying
to undeserved markets with a modern
eet of planes. All this combined have
helped it, under the stewardship of Al
Ghaith, to earn the Best Regional Airline
serving the Middle East at the recent
2015 Business Traveller Middle East
Awards.
Having earned a distinguished
career holding senior positions with
Emirates over two decades, Al Ghaith
has successfully made his mark in
bringing to Dubai a concept that spans
the low-cost, no-frills, budget and
hybrid models.
zUpdesh Kapur is a PR &
communications professional,
columnist, aviation, hospitality and
travel analyst. He can be followed on
twitter @updeshkapur