State-owned EgyptAir is seeking loans of about $290m to finance the purchase of six aircraft.

The airline plans to appoint banks as mandated lead arrangers for the deal, and has asked for financing offers to be received by the end of the month. The company wants to finalise the financing by the end of June.

The deal will cover financing five Boeing 737s and one Airbus plane. The company is still making a decision whether to structure the deal as a corporate loan or as a leasing agreement.

Several Egyptian companies are seeking or have recently secured new financing through the local loan market, in contrast to the Gulf region where few new deals are being arranged.

“Egypt has not suffered from the same real estate problems and debt issues that have hit other parts of the region so banks are still lending,” says a Cairo banker.

Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation is seeking about $2bn of financing for exports, and Orascom Hotels completed a $160m loan in the mid-January.