Budget Airline Blog

Dubai’s new ‘no frills’ airline will be called ‘FlyDubai’ and initially serve destinations within the GCC, its chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum announced today.

Sheikh Ahmed, who is also chairman of Emirates airline, said that FlyDubai will be based at Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, and will operate separately from Dubai’s flagship carrier.  Branding for FlyDubai is expected to be unveiled in the next few months.

FlyDubai will compete with a number of other low-cost operators in the Gulf - including Air Arabia, Jazeera Airways, Sama and Nas Air.  Its launch was announced at a time of record fuel prices.

Other full-service airlines, including Qatar Airways and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad have both said they are considering low cost carriers.

Korean Air’s budget affiliate has disclosed its corporate identity (CI) along with new name “Jin Air.”

Jin Air, which will start operation of the Gimpo-Jeju route on July 17, made public its image, models of aircraft and cabin crew uniform at an inauguration ceremony held in downtown Seoul Sunday.

The carrier has abandoned the tentative name of Air Korea and adopted Jin Air, which has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character meaning “truth” and “sincerity.” Its slogan is “Fly, better fly ? Jin Air.”

Pursuing “freshness” and “pragmatism,” the budget airline showed unconventionality in many aspects.

The logo is a butterfly in blue and purple with a yellowish green background ? the butterfly signifies that passengers can fly freely wherever they want. The carrier’s B737-800 aircraft is colored in the yellowish green, a rare color among airlines.

Passengers will have to pay for extras, from meals at £10 a head to charges for each bag as major airlines try to cover the soaring cost of oil.

Even ringing a call center to book a plane ticket could incur a charge.

The stark warning comes from John McCulloch, managing partner of Oneworld Alliance, the group that represents world’s leading airlines.

It comes just days after British Airways announced the biggest fuel surcharge increase in its history.

He predicted mainstream carriers will have to fall into line with their no-frills rivals as they look to cut costs. The same has already happened in America.

“People have to realise it is going to get more expensive to travel,” said Mr McCulloch, whose group includes British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia and Qantas.

“Airlines would argue that it is the right way to do it. It will be £20 for a bag, £10 for a meal, you are going to see much more of that.

“I think charging for meals will become standard practice.”