Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Ltd, a corporation based in Dubai that provides aviation services, and Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) have announced an agreement to partner on a programme that will invest in aircraft on lease to airlines.
The programme will be branded “Equator” and will target deployment of approximately US$1.6 billion each year. Equator will build a portfolio of aircraft on lease to airlines around the world.
DAE will source the assets from third parties, and the company’s Aircraft Investor Services (AIS) group will manage the assets owned by Equator.
DAE, BXCI to build aircraft portfolio through equator investment programme
“Blackstone’s scaled and flexible capital provides a strong foundation to grow our third-party fleet management franchise. Our fleet size, global customer and counterparty reach, and dedicated client support team makes DAE uniquely positioned to support Equator’s long-term success. We are excited to execute on these targets, marrying our expertise with BXCI’s investing prowess to build a meaningful portfolio of aircraft for Equator,” Firoz Tarapore, Chief Executive Officer of DAE said in a statement.
“We are pleased to expand our aviation capabilities alongside DAE, a leading aircraft lessor with deep technical expertise and longstanding relationships with airlines and OEMs. This program underscores BXCI’s focus on deploying flexible capital into high-quality investments backed by hard assets,” Aneek Mamik, Senior Managing Director and the Head of Financial Services for Asset Based Finance at BXCI added.
BXCI expects to provide a spectrum of capital to support the programme, enabling financing solutions across market cycles and investment opportunities. The BXCI investor group will include capital from funds managed by ITE Management, L.P., a partner of BXCI.
DAE has approximately 700 aircraft, including more than 100 aircraft valued at over $4 billion under management as of December 31, 2025. The company is one of the largest aircraft lessors in the world.
DAE acts as servicer in seventeen servicing and management agreements for investors, where it provides its aircraft management expertise to institutions and financial investors.
BXCI’s Infrastructure and Asset Based Credit Group manages over $100 billion and has more than 90 investment professionals, as of 31 December 2025.
The platform focuses on providing credit and investments across the economy, including infrastructure, commercial finance, fund finance, consumer finance, and real estate lending.
