Key Points
- Lesha Bank agreed to sell six Airbus A380s to Emirates on behalf of its aviation fund.
- Two aircraft are delivered; the remaining four transfer gradually through April 2028 as leases expire.
- The deal follows Lesha's purchase of UK lessor Amedeo Air Four Plus for roughly 916.5 million riyals.
The latest:
Six Airbus A380 superjumbos are moving from Qatari ownership to Emirates under an agreement announced by Lesha Bank, executed on behalf of the Lesha Aviation Fund. Two of the jets have already been handed over. The remaining four will transfer in stages until April 2028, timed to the expiry of their lease contracts. The bank did not disclose the transaction’s value.
Details:
- The structure: Lesha Bank said the sale was carried out on behalf of the Lesha Aviation Fund rather than off the bank’s own balance sheet, placing the transaction within its asset-management business. The announcement did not name the price paid by Emirates or the capital gains booked from the disposal.
- The delivery schedule: Two aircraft have already been transferred to Emirates. Ownership of the other four will move as their existing leases run out, completing in April 2028 — a staggered handover that keeps the jets generating lease income until each contract expires.
- The origin: The six A380s came to Lesha through its acquisition of British aircraft lessor Amedeo Air Four Plus for about 916.5 million riyals. That company held 12 aircraft in total, meaning half its fleet is now committed to Emirates and half remains with the Qatari lender.
- The fleet target: Lesha Bank said it is continuing to expand its aviation portfolio despite the disposal, with a stated goal of surpassing 75 aircraft. The bank did not specify a deadline for reaching that number or identify the aircraft types it intends to add.
- The earnings: The bank posted net profit of 210.4 million riyals for the first nine months of 2026, a 50.2% increase. Assets under management doubled to 23.6 billion riyals over the same stretch, a pace of growth that underpins its push into aircraft ownership.
- The strategy: Lesha framed the sale as asset rotation and capital redeployment: selling mature holdings to fund new acquisitions rather than holding aircraft to the end of their service lives. Neither the sale price, the per-aircraft valuation, nor the gain against the Amedeo purchase cost was made public.
- The buyer’s position: Emirates is the largest operator of the A380 worldwide, and the purchase adds owned aircraft to a fleet it has long sustained through leases. Airbus ended production of the double-decker in 2021, leaving the secondary market as the only route to additional airframes.
Background:
Airbus halted A380 production after weak demand from most carriers, but Emirates built its network around the aircraft and remains its dominant operator. Lesha Bank, a Qatari lender, entered aircraft ownership through the Amedeo deal, inheriting an existing portfolio of wide-body jets already under lease.
Between the lines:
The staggered timetable to 2028 suggests the sale was shaped around the leases rather than a rush to exit: Lesha keeps rental income flowing until each contract ends. Holding six of the 12 Amedeo aircraft while targeting a fleet above 75 points to rotation rather than retreat — recycling capital out of A380s and into other airframes. The undisclosed price leaves the profitability of the Amedeo acquisition unverifiable from the outside.
What’s next
Watch Lesha Bank’s full-year 2026 results for any disclosure of gains booked on the aircraft sale, the timing of the next tranche of A380 transfers to Emirates, and further acquisitions toward the 75-aircraft target.
