Russia's Aeroflot Adds Five A321s To Its Fleet

It's the first really big order to come out of the Farnborough International Airshow... but will it be the last? Aircraft lessor DAE Capital signed a firm contract Tuesday for 30 Airbus A350-900 and 70 Airbus A320 aircraft. The contract follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at the Dubai air show in November 2007.

DAE Capital aims to become a leading lessor based in the Middle East. DAE Capital's parent company DAE is a fast developing global aerospace company with activities including airport development and operations, engineering, manufacturing and services. DAE signed a similar MoU in Dubai for 100 Boeing planes, as well, which was finalized earlier this year.

"DAE Capital has built a business from ground-up and has made impressive progress since its launch. With our industry-experienced management team and well-defined road map DAE Capital will become one of the top leasing companies globally," stated Bob Genise, CEO of DAE Capital. 

The deal is particularly significant as it includes yet another large order for the A350 XWB, which appears to have found its footing in the marketplace after four years, and three major revisions to the original design. What once was proposed by Airbus back in 2004 as a re-engined, re-winged A330 has now evolved into a slightly larger competitor to Boeing's 787. Like that airliner, the A350 XWB also sports largely composite construction, though Airbus has positioned the A350 as an alternative to Boeing's popular -- and still-larger -- 777.

Airbus has approximately 417 orders for the XWB, based on the company's totals through May and including an order announced Monday by Etihad for 25 A350 XWBs.

"DAE's order is a tremendous endorsement of our aircraft products and in Airbus and we thank them for this. The A350 XWB and the A320 products are leaders in their class. Airbus looks forward to building on this partnership in the years to come," said Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO.

In related news, Russia's Aeroflot also announced an order Tuesday for five A321s, the largest variant of Airbus' popular family of narrowbodies. Airbus says around 6,200 A320 Family planes have been sold to date, with over 3,500 delivered.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.daecapital.com