Euromoney innovations in Islamic finance 2016: Emirates Airline

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Joint lead managers: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Citi, Dubai Islamic Bank, ENBD Capital, HSBC, JPMorgan, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Standard Chartered Bank Airbus A380s do not come cheap. Needing long-term funding to buy four of them through its Khadrawy leasing vehicle, Emirates sought just over $913 million – and chose to use a sukuk to do it; the first time the Islamic structure had been used to pre-fund the acquisition of an aircraft.

The bigger significance of the deal was that it broke new ground with export credit agencies.