Despite recent economic turbulence, Trowers & Hamlins has advised Abu Dhabi leasing company Waha Leasing on its recent acquisition of an Airbus A330 and an Airbus A320 from Netherlands-based AerCap Holdings. The two aircraft are subject to long-term operating leases to Aeroflot.

While work relating to asset financing for aircraft is regarded by many lawyers as being on a sturdy footing because of the long pipeline for such projects and the fact that the underlying assets are non-toxic, Waha CEO Salem Rashid Al Noaimi has been quoted as commenting that only a few players in the aviation industry had been pursuing new business in recent times. The same observation may well apply to Waha's other areas of business, including shipping, oil rigs and power plants.

The Trowers & Hamlins team was led by partners Roger Clarke and Andrew Watkins. The UK based firm  has a substantial Middle East presence with offices in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Cairo, Dubai and Oman.