Flydubai and Standard Chartered sign deal for five Boeing aircraft

First four aircraft have been delivered and fifth is due to arrive before the end of the first half of this year

Dubai-based carrier flydubai concluded a sale and leaseback deal which it says builds on previous aircraft financing and leasing agreements. Reuters

Low-cost airline flydubai has taken delivery of four of five new Boeing 737 Max aircraft acquired in a sale-and-leaseback agreement with Standard Chartered.

Four passenger jets were delivered between March and this month, with the remaining 737 scheduled to arrive from Boeing before the end of the first half of the year.

Standard Chartered exclusively structured, financed and arranged the deal which will “support the future growth of the airline’s fleet”, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive of flydubai, said the transaction builds on previous aircraft financing and leasing agreements, and added that flydubai “continues to diversify our sources of funding and attract reliable partners” to support future growth plans.

Flydubai carried 2.35 million passengers in the first-quarter of this year — up 114 per cent compared to the same period last year, as the travel industry continues to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

It operated 19,000 flights in the three months to the end of March as governments eased movement restrictions.

Its fleet of Boeing 737s grew to 63 planes to expand its route network. The airline is expected to take delivery of 18 more aircraft over the next few months.

Last summer, it said it would reduce its order of Boeing 737 Max aircraft by slightly more than 25 per cent as part of a fleet review. It reached an agreement with the US plane maker to reduce its order from 237 aircraft to 172.

The airline posted a Dh841m ($229m) profit in 2021, compared with a Dh712.6m loss in 2020, when the travel industry was hit hard by the pandemic.

Chicago-based Boeing has been trying to restore confidence in the 737 Max after a two-year global ban prompted by two fatal crashes.