By NNN-BNA,
Manama : A Bahraini businessman and a group of Bahraini and gulf investors plan to set up a plane rental company, considered the first of its kind in the kingdom of Bahrain, with a capital of USD50 million.
Following the boom Bahrain has witnessed in air transport that came along with the expansion of the Bahrain international airport and the emergence of many airline companies in the local market, the need for a specialised company for plane rentals rose, Ali Al Musallam told Bahraini daily /Al Ayyam/ on Saturday. The activity of the company, still in the founding stage, will be focused on renting and owning planes to rent them to carriers in the kingdom mainly and in the gulf in general, he said in the statement carried by the daily Friday.
Al Musallam said that 80 percent of the investors in the company were Bahraini businessmen. The company will launch its operations in the local market by the beginning of next year, he said adding the company, now having all procedures and permits for its founding cleared, will rent and re-rent planes in its first stage. In the second stage of its plan, it will purchase planes and rent them to carriers, he said.
The company will provide planes according to the need of the local and regional markets, Al Musallam said, affirming however that the market is in great need for this kind of companies that are heavily present in Europe and the US. Many national, regional and international airline companies depend largely on rental to meet the requirements of clients and serve expansion plans of their networks.