Dubai’s low-cost airline Flydubai has agreed a $750m deal for the financing of nine new aircraft with General Electric Capital Aviation Services (Gecas) and US-based BBAM.

The deals takes care of the carrier’s financing requirements until June 2011. Both deals are eight-year sale and leaseback agreements. The Gecas deal is for six aircraft and it already finances four planes and BBAM is adding another three aircraft to the three it is already financing.

“When we went out to the markets this time to seek financing for our aircraft we were overwhelmed by the response…we received offers for far more aircraft than we needed to finance, which is a very nice position for a young and ambitious airline to be in,” says Ghaith al-Ghaith, chief executive of Flydubai.

Flydubai began commercial flights on 1 June 2009. The airline currently has nine aircraft that operates to 22 destinations. The carrier is scheduled to receive four aircraft by the end of 2010.

Flydubai is starting two routes to Russia this year. It will start flights to Yekaterinburg on 16 October and Samara on 20 October (MEED 19:9:10).