Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) acquired a total of 83 aircraft in 2024, comprising 30 owned and 53 managed. Meanwhile, the company sold 68 aircraft during the year, which included 19 owned and 49 managed units.
Over the year, DAE successfully finalised 233 lease-related agreements, encompassing leases, extensions, and amendments for 190 owned and 43 managed aircraft. Notably, the firm placed 17 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on long-term leases with Turkish Airlines, Eastar Jet, and Hainan Airlines.
DAE also entered into binding purchase agreements to acquire 36 aircraft from various sellers, amounting to a total value of $1.6B. Additionally, the company issued a $497.2M two-tranche aircraft asset-backed securities (ABS) bond for a managed asset client.
In the engineering division, DAE achieved over 1.5 million man-hours, completed more than 300 aircraft checks, and expanded its hangar capacity by 30%, increasing the number of bays to 22, including one capable of accommodating an A380. Strengthening its partnerships, DAE introduced new services with Joramco and Spirit AeroSystems.
On the financial front, DAE secured a five-year AED 2.75B ($749M) unsecured loan from a GCC-based lender. Furthermore, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the company’s credit ratings to BBB and Baa2, respectively.
CEO Firoz Tarapore remarked, “2024 was another year of exemplary execution of our strategy to continually enhance our global presence. The results we announced today confirm DAE’s position as a leader in aviation services, supported by two market-leading divisions: DAE Capital, one of the top ten global aircraft lessors, and DAE Engineering, the region’s preferred independent airframe MRO provider.”
