selecta Member
Joined: 24 Dec 2006 Posts: 813 Location: ORD
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:11 am Post subject: Sama to lease 35 boeing 737s for $500m |
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Web posted at: 1/4/2007 1:19:33
Source ::: REUTERS
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manama � Saudi Arabian low-cost airline Sama said yesterday it planned to lease up to 35 Boeing 737s by 2010 at a cost of about $500m as the kingdom ushers in private carriers.
Sama last month won Saudi Arabia's second domestic passenger airline licence, ending the monopoly of state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines as the government seeks to improve services and encourage investment.
"We plan to grow our fleet from the existing four committed aircraft to around 35 by 2010," said Sama Chief Executive Andrew Cowen, adding that the planes would be Boeing 737s leased for five to seven years.
Sama, whose licence allows it to operate from the eastern city of Dammam, has leased four aircraft for when flights begin later this year.
Talks to lease as many as four more in 2007 are at an advanced stage, Cowen said by telephone, declining to identify the leasing company.
The Saudi government also awarded a licence to National Air Services (NAS), which plans to create a low-cost carrier based in the capital, Riyadh, with an initial fleet of five planes.
Saudi Arabian Airlines said in November it needed to lease aircraft for swifter delivery than purchases as passenger figures were expected to rise 15 per cent a year.
NAS said last month it would order aircraft from Airbus, Gulfstream Inc and Raytheon Inc as part of a $2bn programme to purchase 75 planes and create a 100-strong fleet by 2010. NAS has said it would fly to 22 Saudi destinations during the first year of operation. _________________
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