Airline arranges $517m in Islamic facility

Emirates, the world's largest airline by international traffic, raised 1.9 billion dirhams ($517 million) from an Islamic facility for the purchase of three aircraft. The carrier completed the 12-year loan to buy planes including Boeing Co's 777-300ERs and Airbus SAS's A380 with Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Al Hilal Bank and Ajman Bank PJSC, it confirmed yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The two Boeing planes were delivered in February and May, said the company. Emirates is building the world's largest fleet of Airbus superjumbo jets to establish Dubai as a long-haul travel hub and win passengers from Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The Dubai-based airline is one of the biggest buyers of Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos and the Boeing 777s, and in November signed a deal valued at $18 billion with Boeing. The airline raised $1 billion from the sale of a five-year bond in June. The yield on the 5.125 per cent security dropped 48 basis points this year to 4.692 per cent today, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. From:gulfnews