Emirates Little Sister: flydubai Is Launching Boeing 737 Freighter Flights

Published Sep 11, 2026, 12:38 PM EDT Louis is a military historian and the staff writer for History of War magazine, a leading military history monthly. He also has an interest in private and commercial aviation. Today, flydubaiannounced that it will be creating dedicated freighter operations, hoping to support the expansion of trade in the region. It will use three wet-leased Boeing 737-800 freighter jets. Services with the three aircraft will begin on October 1. Flydubai plans to base the freighter fleet at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC). These 737-800s will be the base for what flydubai hopes will become a substantial cargo product. It is set to include Boeing 787 planes, once they arrive. Flydubai will also assess whether it should begin freighter conversions, starting in 2029. That will increase capacity far more than the belly cargo it currently uses. What The Freighters Will Offer Credit: Flydubai Flydubai currently operates a fleet of 98 passenger Boeing 737 aircraft. As with most commercial airlines, it subsidizes its income with belly cargo. The dedicated freighters expand upon this work, with a particular focus on pharmaceuticals, perishables, live animals, dangerous goods and aerospace components. Flydubai calls these "high-demand sectors." The three freighters will be provided by the lessor SolitAir. They will provide a further 23,000 kg of payload capacity per flight. Flydubai says the jets will provide main-deck cargo capabilities ahead of the fourth-quarter peak season. The airline will then judge the success of this effort as it evaluates passenger-to-freighter retrofits from 2029. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: "The launch of dedicated freighter operations marks an important step in flydubai’s evolution and reflects our commitment to supporting Dubai's vision through enhanced trade connectivity and logistics capabilities. By building on the strength of our network and expanding our cargo offering and list of codeshare and interline partners, we are creating new pathways for businesses to move goods more efficiently." The Cargo Work Will Operate Out Of DWC The hub for the operation will be DWC, located a short distance to the south of Dubai. Flydubai Cargo offers dedicated airside infrastructure and direct multimodal access via Dubai South. Customers can use both point-to-point charter and scheduled freighter routes. Over 125 destinations are covered in a sprawling region, which includes Africa, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Central and Southeast Europe, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Flydubai Cargo's support has been developed with the high-value materials it expects to handle. This includes aerospace components, temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, perishables, live animals, express courier shipments and dangerous goods. There is a substantial market for such logistics work in Dubai because it has become a world-leading hub in e-commerce and trade. Meanwhile, the city has launched Dubai Economic Agenda D33, which aims to help its businesses reach global markets. Freight Capacity Will Increase Further Once Flydubai's Dreamliners Arrive Another way that flydubai will increase its cargo capacity is through belly cargo in the 30 Dreamliners it currently has on order. The carrier placed an order for the jets worth $11 billion at the 2023 Dubai Airshow. These planes will be the carrier's first widebody aircraft. Flydubai expected the first deliveries to be at the end of 2027, with all the planes delivered by the end of 2033. These delivery dates represent a slight delay, with flydubai reportedly in talks to receive compensation. Flydubai is yet to announce destinations for its 787s. However, the Boeing 787-9 has a range of 7,565 nautical miles (14,010 km). That means its reach will approximately double compared to its current 737 MAX fleet, which has a range of 3,550 nautical miles (6,570 km). Al Ghaith has ruled out North America, but has said the planes "definitely go to new places all over the world." The carrier will also deploy its 787s on pre-existing routes where there is the most demand for more capacity. These widebody aircraft also, unsurprisingly, can carry far more belly cargo than the 737 MAX.