As Oman Air continues its ambitious fleet and network expansion plan, the airline has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) for the sale and leaseback of two new B737-800 aircraft.

The first of the two aircraft was delivered on July 25 and the second is expected to arrive at Muscat this month.

Under Oman Air’s expansion programme, launched late 2014, the national carrier of Oman is in the process of increasing its fleet size to 70 aircraft by 2020. At that point, Oman Air’s fleet will comprise 45 narrow-body aircraft and 25 wide-body aircraft, which will fly to an anticipated 75 global destinations. Since October 2014, Oman Air has received 12 new B737s, of which seven are the -800 variant and five are -900 variant. Each is currently deployed on routes from Muscat to destinations in the GCC region, in the wider Middle East and on the South Asian sub-continent.

Abdulrahman Al-Busaidy, deputy CEO and chief commercial officer of Oman Air, said: “By expanding the size of our fleet, Oman Air is able to offer many more people the opportunity of experiencing our award-winning inflight products and services, as well as our exemplary on-time performance. Our B737 aircraft serve as the backbone of our fleet and we are extremely pleased to have agreed the sale and leaseback arrangement with Dubai Aerospace Enterprise.

“On behalf of Oman Air, I would like to thank DAE’s highly professional team of experts. We now look forward to welcoming our customers aboard these brand-new B737-800 airliners.”

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is a globally recognised aerospace company headquartered in Dubai, UAE. Formed in 2006, DAE has grown rapidly since its inception and the company now holds an aircraft leasing portfolio of 76 aircraft worth approximately $4 billion.

Firoz Tarapore, chief executive officer of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, said: “As a world leader in aircraft leasing, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is delighted to have agreed this sale and leaseback agreement with Oman Air. The airline is expanding at an impressive rate and we look forward to working with Oman Air again, should future opportunities arise.” - TradeArabia News Service