Etihad Airways secures new funding to add new wide body aircraft
Published: 04/08/08
Etihad Airways has managed to finance a deal worth a huge $250m to buy two brand new Airbus A340-600 wide bodied long haul passengers jets. The Abu-Dhabi based airline secured the finance with the help of a consortium of regional and international banks. In a further financial move, the airline managed to find a second consortium to help the airline’s development by convincing a separate group of regional and international that the airline would be a wise investment.
The deal which has allowed for two of the aircraft to be placed in service at the time of the article going to press will be joined the latest additions in December 2007 and will be used immediately.
The move is seen by some in the aviation industry as extremely encouraging especially as Etihad has only been trading for four years and that for it to have secured the finance from international is almost unprecedented. Etihad, the official airline of the UAE hoped to add to its current routes and offer further flights to the UAE when the aircraft come in to full use.