Doric Nimrod Air Two Limited and Emirates have finalized an agreement for the sale of five Airbus A380 aircraft at the end of the leasing period under which the Dubai-based airline has been operating them since October 2011.
This will take place between October 1 and November 30, 2024, affecting the aircraft with serial numbers 105, 106, 107, 109, and 110. The agreed price for each A380 is USD 40 million, which will bring Doric Nimrod Air Two Limited revenues of USD 200 million.
Doric Nimrod Air Two Limited had acquired seven Airbus A380 in 2011, all of which have been leased to Emirates Airline since then. The first two aircraft, MSN 077 and MSN 090, were already purchased by the airline at the end of the lease in late 2023, also for a value close to USD 40 million each.
See also: Emirates schedules a second daily seasonal Airbus A380 flight to Bali
With the sale of the seven A380s, Doric Nimrod Air Two Limited, which was created in 2011 as an investment vehicle for this operation (by Nimrod Capital and Doric GmbH), will be liquidated. Its based on the island of Guernsey.
The company indicated that it intends to distribute the proceeds from the sale to shareholders, along with the remaining cash holdings, net of any liquidation and other costs, barring any eventualities that may arise during the process, in the first quarter of 2025.
“The Board wishes to thank its advisors, Doric and Nimrod, for their advice and assistance in achieving this agreement, and also the company’s shareholders for their patience and constructive role throughout the life of the Company. The Board also wishes to thank Emirates for their twelve years of cooperation,” the statement concludes.
Emirates operates 119 Airbus A380s in its fleet, 16 of which are stored. They have an average age of 9.1 years, and it is by far the largest operator of the model. Although the A380 is no longer manufactured, the company estimates that it will continue using them until the end of the next decade or the early 2040s due to the lack of a suitable replacement aircraft. The rest of its passenger service fleet consists of 122 Boeing 777-300ERs and 10 B777-200LRs, with orders for 170 Boeing 777-9, 65 A350-900, 35 777-8, 15 787-8, and 15 787-9.
To keep the A380 up-to-date in terms of passenger services and operational efficiency, Emirates has been signing agreements with companies such as Honeywell, Collins Aerospace, Lufthansa Technik, and GAMECO for MRO services, while undertaking a multimillion-dollar cabin refurbishment.
