Saudi Arabia launches aircraft leasing company

Riyadh, July 1

Saudi Arabia announced the founding of an aircraft leasing company named AviLease, as a way to diversify the kingdom's oil-reliant economy.

Sponsored by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, AviLease will focus on growing through purchase-and-leaseback deals with airlines, portfolio acquisitions, and direct orders from aircraft manufacturers, as well as considering corporate acquisitions as a means of expansion, Xinhua news agency quoted the state media as saying.

The launch of AviLease underlines PIF's goal to tap the potential of promising local industries in order to advance economic diversification and contribute to non-oil GDP growth.

The PIF has established 54 companies in various sectors since 2017.