Dubai selects HSBC to advise on $3bn airport financing

Dubai has chosen HSBC to advise on $3bn of initial financing to support the expansion of its two airports.

The financing is designed the enable Dubai International and Al Maktoum International to serve up to 146 million passengers by 2025 and will see Al Maktoum become the emirate’s primary aviation hub.

Dubai International is currently the world’s largest airport in international passenger terms, having been used by 78 million people last year.

“Dubai remains firmly committed to the development of the Al Maktoum International Airport and to the growth of the global aviation sector, and this initial $3bn transaction to support Dubai’s ambitious 2025 passenger capacity targets is testament to our belief,” said chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Fiscal Committee HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

Dubai’s Department of Finance, Investment Corporation of Dubai and Dubai Aviation City Corporation will jointly raise the financing from “various liquidity sources” both conventional and Islamic, according to a media statement.

A $32bn investment to expand Al Maktoum International was approved in 2014 with the aim of expanding capacity to 120 million passengers a year by 2022.