Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) and New York's Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) are launching Equator, a new global aviation leasing joint venture targeting $1.6 billion in annual deployment. The full-service platform will source aircraft from third parties and lease them to airlines worldwide. DAE, one of the world's largest aircraft lessors with a fleet valued at $25 billion, will manage Equator's operations.

Why This Matters

The UAE and US are deepening aviation ties and creating opportunities for American aviation professionals. DAE already maintains a strong US presence with offices in Miami and Seattle. Over a third of the company's 700-aircraft fleet consists of American-made Boeing planes.

Equator marks Blackstone's latest major UAE investment, following recent commitments to fintech platform ADGT and its joint venture with Lunate to form Gulf Logistics Infrastructure Development Enterprise. As alternative investors like Blackstone—whose Infrastructure and Asset-BasedCredit group manages $100 billion—seek diversification, the UAE has emerged asa strategic destination for institutional capital.

Full Press Release: DAE and Blackstone Credit & Insurance Announce Multi-BillionDollar Global Aviation Leasing Investment Program

Programto target global opportunities across key markets

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Ltd (“DAE”), a global aviation services corporation, and Blackstone Credit & Insurance (“BXCI”) today announced an agreement to partner to launch a new long-term global investment program that will be branded “Equator” and will invest in aircraft on lease to commercial airlines, with a target deployment of approximately US $1.6 billion annually.

Equator will build a diversified portfolio of commercial aircraft on lease to leading airlines around the world. DAE will source the assets from third parties and DAE’s Aircraft Investor Services (“AIS”) group will manage the assets owned by Equator.

“Blackstone’s scaled and flexible capital provides a strong foundation to grow our third-party fleet management franchise,” said Firoz Tarapore, Chief Executive Officer of DAE. He added, “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.”

“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,” said Aneek Mamik, Senior Managing Director and the Head ofFinancial Services for Asset Based Finance at BXCI. He continued, “This program underscores BXCI’s focus on deploying flexible capital into high-quality investments backed by hard assets.”

BXCI expects to provide a full spectrum of capital to support the program, enabling flexible and dependable financing solutions across market cycles and investment opportunities. The BXCI investor group will include capital from funds managed by ITE Management, L.P., a strategic partner of BXCI.

With approximately 700 aircraft, including more than 100 aircraft valued at over US $4 billion under management as of December 31, 2025, DAE is one of the largest aircraft lessors globally. DAE acts as servicer in seventeen servicing and management agreements for institutional and financial investors, where DAE provides its aircraft management expertise.

BXCI’s Infrastructure and Asset Based Credit Group manages over US $100 billion and has 90 investment professionals, as of December 31, 2025. The platform focuses on providing investment grade credit, non-investment grade credit, and structured investments across the real economy, including infrastructure, commercial finance, fund finance, consumer finance, and real estate lending.