Jazeera Airways’ Leasing Unit Inks Deal With Portuguese Airline

Kuwait-based Al Jazeera Airways Group announced that its wholly owned aircraft-leasing subsidiary Sahaab, has signed its first European deal with TAP Portugal.

As per the agreement, the company will place two Airbus A320 aircraft on long-term leases with Lisbon based TAP Portugal.

The Portuguese airline operates an average of 2,250 flights a week with a fleet of 55 Airbus aircraft, in addition to another 16 at the service of PGA, its regional airline, for a total of 71 aircraft.

Aside from its leases to TAP Portugal, Jazeera Airways has four other A320 aircraft placed with Virgin America and has leased one each with Sri Lankan Airlines and Flynas.

“With the recent placement, Sahaab Aircraft Leasing has assets distributed across the globe with A-list customers in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia,” said Marwan Boodai, chairman, Jazeera Airways Group.

“We welcome TAP Portugal as Sahaab’s fourth international customer and look forward to a long-term relationship with the airline.”

Sahaab Aircraft Leasing was launched in October 2008 with Jazeera Airways as its first customer. The company was later fully acquired by the Kuwait-based airline in 2010.

Jazeera Airways Group has a fleet portfolio of 15 Airbus A320s, seven of which are placed with its passenger airline Jazeera Airways. All placements are long-term leases, bringing sustainable revenue for the company, it said in a statement.

The group’s airline, however, reported a 42 per cent drop in Q1 profit during 2014 due to a decline in revenues.

Operating profit dropped 37.6 per cent to reach KD2.8 million while revenues fell 6.1 per cent to amount to KD13.8 million.

Jazeera Airways also announced the launch of a dedicated gate facility in Kuwait Airport this year, which is expected to lift the airport’s gate capacity by 30 per cent.