Boeing, Airbus get big orders from new Dubai firm

State-owned Dubai Aerospace Enterprise said its recently formed leasing company will buy 100 Boeing aircraft and 100 from rival Airbus, orders worth more than $13 billion at list prices for each manufacturer.

Boeing said its order comprises 70 737s and 30 widebody aircraft. The widebody fleet will be split among 787s, 777s and 747 freighters. The price incorporates a deal with GE for engines, valued at more than $1.9 billion (1.29 billion euros).

The leasing company, DAE Capital, is led by Bob Genise, formerly CEO of Bellevue-based lessor Boullioun Aviation Services. Its top executives are also former Boullioun people working from Bellevue, though Genise expects to spend some 60 percent of his time in Dubai.

At the air show Monday, the head of Airbus said he expects a record year for orders and deliveries despite a weak dollar and delays to its A380 superjumbo plane.

"We expect to have delivered 450 aircraft so far this year by mid-November," Tom Enders, Airbus president and chief executive, said at the airshow.

Emirates-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia said it would buy up to 49 Airbus A320 aircraft in a deal worth $3.5 billion. The Sharjah-based carrier signed a firm contract for 34 aircraft with an option for 15 more.

Also Monday, Saudi Arabian Airlines said it signed a memorandum of understanding for 22 Airbus A320 aircraft to modernize its fleet, said Airbus, which is owned by European Aeronautic Defense & Space Company. The agreement allows the Saudi airline company to increase the order by eight more A320s.

The orders come a day after Emirates Airline announced it signed a massive order for 78 Airbus planes, with an option to buy 50 more. The company's firm order included eight of Airbus' new superjumbo A380, the world's largest commercial jet. Saudi low-cost carrier National Air Service said it would buy 20 Airbus A320 aircraft.

On Sunday, Emirates Airline also ordered 12 Boeing 777 jets, and Qatar Airways ordered 27 Boeing 777 planes in part of its plan to double its 58-strong fleet to 110 aircraft by 2010.

LCAL, a Dubai-based leasing company, also announced Monday it plans to buy six Boeing 787 aircraft in a deal worth $972 million, the company announced.

The Dubai Airshow, the third-largest event of its kind, is closely watched as a measure of the state of Gulf air carriers, who are taking advantage of shifting travel routes to substantially expand fleets.