When he was appointed chief operating officer of flydubai in August 2008, captain Kenneth, or ‘Ken’ Gile brought with him over 25 years of experience working in the low-cost aviation industry.

flydubai, Dubai’s first low-cost airline, was established by the Dubai government in March 2008 and made history at the Farnborough Air Show 2008 when it placed an order for 54 Boeing 737-800s, the largest ever such order by a Middle East low-cost carrier.

flydubai began commercial flights on June 1 last year. It has now flown more than a million passengers; operates to 22 destinations and will have at least 25 by the end of 2010; and has a fleet of nine Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft.

From its first flight to Beirut in 2009, the airline is aiming to increase the number of routes on its schedule to 21 by the end of this year.

Prior to moving to Dubai, Gile was the president and COO of US low-cost operator Skybus Airlines and was also a former pilot and director of operations at Texas-based no frills carrier Southwest Airlines. His CV also includes time as a pilot for both the US Air Force and Saudi Arabian Airlines.

As COO at flydubai, he is responsible for the day-to-day running of the airline and has specific responsibility for strategic planning, in-flight services, ground operations, flight operations, maintenance and engineering.