Emirates Airline raises $1bn finance for jumbos

Emirates Airline has financed the delivery of six Airbus A380 aircraft with US$1.13 billion from Citibank.

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Emirates Airline has financed the delivery of six Airbus A380 aircraft with US$1.13 billion (Dh4.14bn) in deals with Citibank of the US and Doric Asset Finance of the UK, it said today. Citibank arranged the financing for the first three A380s under a guarantee from the European export credit agencies. Doric Asset Finance is the lender for the other three. The six aircraft are part of the 53 A380s Emirates has on firm order from Airbus.

Emirates said it will receive the first of these aircraft early next week, which will be used on its route to Seoul, Korea from December 14. A second A380 arrives in late December. The remaining four super-jumbos are due to be delivered next year. The announcement comes days after Moody's Investor Service said Dubai entities could face higher borrowing costs in the future in the wake of Dubai World's debt restructuring efforts. Emirates resonded to the claim by disclosing that it had already secured financing for nine aircraft due for delivery by July next year at fixed margins.

"Emirates remains in a secure financial position despite the global financial crisis. We have never encountered difficulties in obtaining finance for our aircraft acquisition programme, with both international and regional banks comfortable with our financial stability," said Tim Clark (ck), the president of Emirates. igale@thenational.ae