DAE triples fleet with $1b aircraft purchase

Dubai: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) continued its aircraft buying spree at the Dubai Airshow by signing a $1 billion, 20-aircraft deal to triple the size of its aircraft leasing business.

DAE Capital acquired 20 wide and narrow-body aircraft from GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS).

The deal comprises Boeing 737 next generation series and Airbus A320 series aircraft.

It incorporates 11 customers from 10 countries, and marks a key phase in DAE's business strategy to become one of the largest aircraft leasing companies in the Middle East.

It comes after DAE Capital also completed its first aircraft acquisition with the $500 million purchase of eight wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft from Emirates Airline in a split purchase and leaseback deal.

On Monday DAE signed a letter of intent with Airbus worth $13.5 billion for up to 100 aircraft comprising 70 from A320 family and 30 A350 XWBs – with deliveries to start in 2013 and conclude in 2022.

The price incorporates an associated deal with Rolls-Royce for its Trent XWB engines to power the A350 XWBs, worth some $1.2 billion at list prices.

It also completed a letter of intent for 100 aircraft valued at approximately $13.7 billion with Boeing comprising 70 Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft and 30 wide-body planes (covering Boeing 787s, 777s and 747s) for delivery between 2010 and 2018.

The price incorporates an associated deal with General Electric (GE) for 70 CFM56-7B engines for the 737s, GEnx-engines to power five Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental and further GE90-115B engines to power 10 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

The engines are together valued at more than $1.9 billion.