Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has abandoned plans to acquire an aircraft leasing company in order to enter the leasing sector, and will instead concentrate on building its own organisation.
Leasing is one of the aerospace business areas in which DAE plans to participate and the company had been pursuing existing lessors in order to make a quick entry into the market.
But speaking to ATI at the Paris air show today, DAE chief executive Bob Johnson said that the company had “changed its activity” and scrapped this strategy.
“We thought: let’s go out really quick and acquire a leasing company that comes with an experienced team,” he says, but says that DAE has “changed its activity” in favour of building its own portfolio and hiring a group of skilled leasing personnel.
“We’re in the process of acquiring aircraft and customers. We’re doing it on our own, our way.”
The DAE leasing team is being headed by Robert Genise, the former head of US lessor Boullioun Aviation Services, who was recruited to the Middle Eastern firm earlier this year.
Johnson says that DAE is “weeks or months” away from being able to offer aircraft to customers, stating that the company plans to build an initial fleet of around 100. DAE is expecting to acquire both new and used types.
“We’d like first to focus on short-haul aircraft – but not exclusively,” he says. “Some packages would require some sort of combination. Our rate of speed [of growth] will depend on finding the right aircraft at the right price.”
Related story
Related blog
Source: FlightGlobal.com
