Qatar Airways Group Signs First Japanese Aircraft Lease With HSBC, JLPS
The Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option covers three Boeing 787-9s, the first of three transactions planned to finance seven aircraft.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
Qatar Airways Group has signed its first aircraft financing agreement in the Japanese market, a deal with HSBC and JP Lease Products & Services (JLPS) covering three Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
The carrier announced the agreement on Thursday. It uses a Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option (JOLCO) structure, which combines debt and equity financing and gives the lessee an option to purchase the aircraft.
HSBC is acting as debt arranger and sole lender. JLPS is underwriting and arranging the equity portion of the transaction.
Three deals, seven aircraft
The three 787-9s are the opening slice of a program that will ultimately cover seven aircraft. The transaction is the first of three planned under what the group calls its inaugural Japanese financing arrangement. JLPS will serve as equity arranger across all three, and the later agreements would carry the group's use of Japanese financing beyond the initial trio of Dreamliners.
Qatar Airways Group did not disclose the value of the transaction or its financing terms.
Al Khater sets out the funding plan
Group chief executive Hamad Al Khater said the airline intends to hold a consistent presence in the Japanese leasing market and to keep that position as it finances future fleet investments. He described the JOLCO market as a long-term funding source for the group's fleet requirements.
The group said the arrangement would diversify its funding sources and widen its investor base in Asia.
Leadership
Al Khater was appointed group chief executive in December 2025, having previously served as chief operating officer at Hamad International Airport. He ranked second on a 2026 list of the Middle East's 100 top travel and tourism leaders.
Fleet growth drives the search for capital
The financing lands after a stretch of heavy commitments. In 2025 the airline signed agreements with Boeing and GE Aerospace covering up to 210 aircraft and 400 engines. Aircraft arriving on that scale need funding from a range of capital markets, which is what the Japanese program is built to supply.
Qatar Airways Group's 2026 annual report put post-tax profit at $1.94 billion (QAR 7.08 billion) and revenue at $23 billion (QAR 83.75 billion) for the financial year ended March 2026. The airline carried 41.8 million passengers during that year and operated 313 aircraft serving 183 destinations as of March 2026.
