The Dubai aircraft lessor's fleet size grew to about 425 planes during the year

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, the Middle East's biggest plane lessor, said its aircraft leasing division signed 200 lease agreements, extensions and amendments in 2021, as the aviation industry began to gradually recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

DAE Capital, the company's aircraft leasing division, also acquired 41 aircraft and sold 30 aircraft during the year, DAE said in its annual business transactions update on Wednesday. In addition, it signed four new servicing agreements covering seven aircraft.

The company's fleet of owned, managed, committed and mandated-to-manage aircraft reached about 425 planes during 2021, when it served 112 customers in 54 countries, it said. The average age of its owned fleet reached 6.7 years, it said.

While the pandemic’s effects on the aviation industry will continue for a long time, the recovery is under way and aircraft lessors are well placed to prosper even in this 'dislocated environment', according a report by KPMG in December.

“While the challenges stemming from new variants of concern are significant, there have been clear positive trends with the introduction of the EU vaccine passport and the reopening of transatlantic travel. The question is when, not if, we will see a full recovery,' said Joe O’Mara, head of aviation finance and tax partner at KPMG.

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