HSBC to fund Emirates’ six-plane orderbook: Dubai’s flagship carrier Emirates has tapped HSBC to finance the uptake of six new Airbus A350-900 aircraft, according to a statement. HSBC has already closed financing for five of the six carriers through the Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option (Jolco) structures, while financing for the remaining plane is currently in motion. The exact size of the facility and the delivery timeline were not specified.

Background: Emirates inked a lease agreement with the bank for four of the aircraft back in March. The agreement then marked the airline’s return to the Jolco market — in which the firm was very active between 2014 and 2019, raising over AED 28 bn.

Emirates is looking to diversify funding sources to support its fleet expansion plans. The airline has some 65 Airbus A350-900 carriers in total on order — with deliveries beginning last year and scheduled to run through till 2028.

DATA POINT- At present, Emirates operates a fleet of over 260 aircraft — dominated by long-haul aircraft models Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s. The airline maintains one of the largest orderbooks globally, with up to 205 Boeing 777Xs and 35 Boeing 787 Dreamliners on top of the 65 A350s on order.

This isn’t Emirates’ only funding rodeo recently: Emirates tapped NBD in September to finance the uptake of two Boeing 777-200 long-range freighter aircraft.

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