DAE and Blackstone Credit & Insurance to invest USD1.6bn p/a to build leased aircraft portfolio
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) and Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) announced (09-Apr-2026) an agreement to launch the long term 'Equator' programme to invest in aircraft on lease to commercial airlines. The companies are targeting deployment of approximately USD1.6 billion p/a to build a diversified portfolio of commercial aircraft on lease to airlines worldwide. DAE will source the assets from third parties and DAE's Aircraft Investor Services group will manage the assets. BXCI expects to provide a full spectrum of capital to support the programme. The BXCI investor group will include capital from funds managed by BXCI's partner ITE Management. [more - original PR]
Background ✨
DAE strengthened its funding base, signing new long term unsecured revolving credit facilities worth USD2.8 billion, replacing a USD1.4 billion facility and extending maturities to Mar-2031, lifting total revolving capacity to about USD4 billion1. It also agreed to acquire Macquarie AirFinance for an enterprise value of about USD7 billion, targeting close in 2H2026 and a combined pro forma fleet of 1029 aircraft serving 191 airline customers2.