Alafco shops for Boeing Dreamliners for middle-east market

11 July, 2007:

Airline companies are snapping up Boeing Dreamliners at break-neck speed. The latest in the long list of those shopping for the Boeing Dreamliner is Kuwait-based aircraft leasing company Alafco Aviation Lease and Finance Co.

The Kuwaiti aviation major is reported to have placed firm orders for an additional ten B787 Dreamliners. These are apart from the 12 it had announced earlier this year. According to the company, the new order takes the value of the combined orderbook to $3 billion for 22 B787s at list prices. Ahmad A Al Zabin, chairman and CEO of Alafco, signed the deal with Scott Carson, Boeing Commercial Airplane Co's president and CEO, in Seattle on July 7, 2007.

Alafco said that in two years' time, it has been able to place orders for 90 aircraft, including 22 787 Dreamliners for a growing number of customers in
the Middle East. The company has nine customers for whom it is buying the aircraft. It bought the first 12 B787s for Kuwait Airways, but is yet to decide on who the customers for the new orders will be.

The new shopping spree from Kuwait is an indicator that Alafco can be a strategic partner with Boeing in expanding the aviation market in the Middle
East. The new 10 Dreamliners will be delivered from 2015. Alafco currently boasts of a fleet of 33 aircraft, including 15 it manages for KFH.

Meanwhile, the aviation world is happy that Boeing has rolled out the Dreamliner, its latest offering in 13 years following the Boeing 777 series launch in 1994. Related reports pointed out that the orders for the Dreamliner has gone up to 34 in the Middle East, out of a total 697.