Etihad Airways will utilize a US$400 million Islamic lease financing facility to acquire four Airbus A340-500 aircraft.
Citigroup and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) acted as mandated lead arrangers and joint bookrunners for the consortium of six lenders, consisting of ABC Islamic Bank, First Gulf Bank, Qatar National Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, with the Arab African International Bank and China Construction Bank Corporation, Hong Kong branch, as arrangers.
The Etihad fleet currently comprises 25 aircraft, which will expand to 31 by the end of the year, during which time the airline will take delivery of two Airbus A330-200 and four Airbus A340-600 aircraft.
James Hogan, chief executive of Etihad, said: “Etihad has set unprecedented standards for growth, which while earning it the title of the world’s fastest growing airline, has also created an expectation and benchmark that will be hard to match.”
This financing marks Etihad’s first Shariah compliant agreement, and the largest of its kind by any airline.