Qatar Airways wins Middle East Deal of the Year

Qatar Airways has been awarded the Middle East Deal of the Year 2003 accolade at the 24th Annual Airfinance Conference in New York.

This award, from Airfinance Journal, recognises the USD 2.2 billion worth of financing completed by Qatar Airways during 2003 and specifically two high profile transactions. The first of these was a predelivery payment facility with Qatar National Bank for the Airbus A380 super jumbo; the second was an innovative interest rate swap for a package of thirteen of the airline's A320 and A330 aircraft provided by Standard Chartered Bank, which converted floating interest rate financings into fixed interest obligations.

Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, said, "We are very proud indeed to receive this award from Airfinance Journal in recognition of our extensive financing deals recorded last year, the broad relationships we have established with a diverse group of banks and, in particular, the landmark A380 financing and our comprehensive interest rate swap".