Etihad Airways has signed a contract with New York-based CIT Aerospace for the lease of two new Airbus A330-200 aircraft, the UAE news agency "WAM" reported. The two A330-200s, the aircraft which forms the backbone of the Etihad fleet, are scheduled for delivery in January and March 2009 and will replace two aircraft currently leased by Etihad. The deal, which means that Etihad is now CIT Aerospace's largest customer in the Middle East, was signed by the airline's chief executive James Hogan and C. Jeffrey Knittel, president of CIT Transportation Finance. Hogan said: "Etihad continues to grow at an impressive rate and the introduction of the two new CIT-leased A330-200s into the fleet will have a major impact because they can operate on both our long and short haul flights." Etihad Airways currently has 12 A330-200s in its fleet and a further three will be added by the end of 2007. The Abu Dhabi-based airline also placed an order with Airbus in June for 12 new aircraft, which included five A330 passenger aircraft. CIT Aerospace owns or finances a fleet of more than 300 aircraft. Approximately seven per cent of CIT's fleet is located in the Middle East.
