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Lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) expects to spend between $2 to $3 billion on aircraft acquisitions in 2026, as it anticipates continuing strong market conditions.
The Dubai-based company spent about $5 billion on acquisitions in 2025, including the $2 billion purchase of rival Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC). The planned top-line figure for 2026 returns DAE to approximately its previous level of purchases.
“We intend to be very active on the sell side as well,” DAE CEO Firoz Tarapore said during an earnings call on Feb. 4. “Mainly for portfolio management purposes.”
DAE acquired 280 aircraft in 2025 (partly through the acquisition of NAC) and sold 111. The lessor now has 678 owned, managed and committed aircraft in its fleet.
DAE Engineering had “a very, very good year,” Tarapore said, with the addition of a new hangar at its Amman, Jordan, facility adding five new widebody and narrowbody capable lines, increasing capacity by approximately 30%. The company now has 22 fully operational lines of heavy maintenance.
“We already were the leading independent airframe heavy maintenance provider in the region, but our new size now takes us closer to the top of the league tables of global independent providers of heavy maintenance,” Tarapore said. “We’re not done yet. I think for us there’s plenty of growth yet.”
He added that the company’s Joramco Academy in Jordan has about 200 students enrolled in a four-year program. “This is one of our competitive advantages, as talent becomes key in providing steady services to our clients,” Tarapore said.
DAE posted 2025 net profits of $702.2 million for 2025, up from $477.5 million in 2024, on revenues up 20.7% at $1.73 billion compared to $1.43 billion for the previous year.
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