ABU DHABI — The Abu Dhabi National Leasing Company (ADNL), the wholly owned lease finance arm of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, has signed a memorandum of understanding with European manufacturer Airbus on aircraft financing and leasing. ADNL was one of the financial institutions contacted by Emirates for its expansion, Arabian Aerospace.online said on Thursday. The UAE national carrier Etihad also has ambitious growth plans and requirement for additional airraft, it added. “We understand the power of connectivity to drive the economy,” Yousef Abdulla Yousef, ADNL managing director, was quoted by Arabian Aerospace as saying. “We believe that the airlines in the UAE have been the catalyst for transforming and expanding the air transportation to and from the UAE. “The aviation industry contributes more than AED145 billion ($41billion) to the UAE economy, justifying the region's huge investments in airports and airline networks.” ADNL and Airbus will share competence and experience to cooperate on leasing projects, financing projects and management activities, such as structuring operations and finance lease transactions, pre-delivery payment financing for Airbus aircraft and delivery financing of new and used Airbus aircraft, Furthermore, ADNL will “facilitate and provide aircraft delivery financing solutions” to airlines in the GCC region for the acquisition of Airbus aircraft. Yousef added: “ADNL puts its hands together with Airbus to increase cooperation between the two organizations and drive forward aviation initiatives to make Abu Dhabi a regional hub for the aviation business.” — SG
