DUBAI: The Cairo-based airline startup Nile Air placed firm orders for nine Airbus 321s, the European plane-maker said Wednesday. The aircraft will cost $792 million at list prices.
The airline, owned by Saudi travel service group Al Tayyar, will start operations in the first quarter of 2008 and will initially fly between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, its chairman Nasser Al Tayyar told reporters at the Dubai Airshow.
We will expand our routes further into the Middle East after that, said Al Tayyar, according to the Dow Jones newswire.
Nile Air also said it plans to launch an initial public offering next year to fund its expansion plans. We plan to list the shares on the Cairo bourse in 2008, Al Tayyar said.
The airline will have a startup capital of $25 million and plans to use Islamic bank loans to fund the purchase of aircraft in the run up to the IPO, Al Tayyar said.
Middle East airlines are expanding rapidly as traffic in the region is growing on the back of a four-year economic boom driven by high oil prices.
