GE Capital Aviation Services to lease three Airbus A330-200s to Qatar Airways

GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) today announced it will lease three Airbus A330-200 aircraft to Qatar Airways. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The first two aircraft enter service at Qatar Airways in January and February 2004. The third is a new aircraft scheduled for delivery in June 2005.

"We are very pleased to extend our relationship with one of the leading carriers in the Middle East, Qatar Airways," said Norman C.T. Liu, executive vice president, commercial operations for GECAS.

Qatar Airways already leases an A320 from GECAS and will take delivery of two new A330-200 aircraft on lease from GECAS in the summer of 2004.

Qatar Airways is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world currently flying to 48 destinations worldwide. Within the coming two years, the number of destinations served by Qatar Airways is projected to rise to 60.

The airline presently operates 29 Airbus aircraft and is one of the launch customers of the A380 'super jumbo'. The airline recently signed a US$ 5.1 billion order for 34 additional Airbus aircraft in a deal that will increase the fleet to 52 by 2008.