- Dubai Airports and flydubai signed an SLA at the Airshow, automating complex operational billing.
- The integration links flydubai directly to Dubai Airports’ ODMP and VEOVO platforms for real-time data.
- The new automated process replaces weeks of manual PDF checks with instant digital invoice verification.
- This project enhances auditability, strengthens financial resilience, and supports future DWC scalability.
In the high-stakes world of aviation, financial efficiency is as critical as flight efficiency. Dubai Airports and flydubai have entered a new chapter of collaboration, signing a pivotal Service Level Agreement (SLA) at the Dubai Airshow 2025. This agreement represents a major leap in operational and financial technology, transforming a historically cumbersome process into a fully automated, auditable system. This ambitious integration, completed in just eight months, sets a new benchmark for financial agility and transparency across the UAE’s aviation ecosystem.
Historically, passenger billing for major carriers involved massive data volumes and lengthy, manual verification processes utilizing thousands of PDF pages and complicated OCR checks. This bottleneck has been effectively solved by the new system, which leverages smart integration.
- Full Automation: Dubai Airports successfully linked flydubai’s systems directly with its operational database (ODMP) and billing platform (VEOVO).
- Instant Digital Invoicing: Invoices are now sent directly to flydubai in the standard iXML format, allowing the airline to import and verify them immediately, a task that previously took weeks.
- Enhanced Auditability: The new model greatly improves compliance and strengthens trust through consistency and standardization across all passenger charges.
Adil Al Fahim, Chief Financial Officer of Dubai Airports, emphasized the broad strategic impact: “By integrating our systems, we’ve not only enhanced transparency and efficiency but also set a new benchmark for how financial processes can evolve to support aviation excellence. This project supports the scalability for the DWC expansion.”
The eight-month project was a collaborative effort involving teams from Dubai Airports’ finance, operations, and business technology divisions, alongside the Dubai Digital Authority, GRP, and flydubai counterparts. This unity demonstrates a shared, aspirational commitment to operational excellence.
Francois Oberholzer, Chief Financial Officer at flydubai, noted the immediate, measurable value: “We’ve transformed a once lengthy and labour-intensive process into a fully automated, real-time workflow. This project not only enhances auditability and compliance across our passenger charges, but also brings a new level of efficiency and transparency to how we operate.”
The new system significantly reduces the risk of human error, improves liquidity, and brings the financial workflow into alignment with the best practices of a digital-first industry. This move ensures that both organizations are financially agile and resilient, ready to support the vibrant growth of the UAE’s air travel sector.
This strategic SLA between Dubai Airports and flydubai is a powerful example of how smart system integration can deliver immediate and measurable value. It’s a testament to the UAE’s ongoing leadership in defining the future of aviation operations.
Learn more about the future of aviation financial services by exploring the strategic initiatives announced at the Dubai Airshow!
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