WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has authorized a $117.5 million loan guarantee supporting exports of Boeing 737-800 aircraft to flydubai, a low-cost airline owned by the government of Dubai.

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Ex-Im Bank is guaranteeing a 12-year loan from the Private Export Funding Corp. It is the Bank's first authorization supporting aircraft exports to flydubai.

"This financing is a first for Ex-Im Bank for this successful new carrier in the Middle East, and this export is a great opportunity for Boeing to expand its market reach in the United Arab Emirates. The aircraft financed supported hundreds of jobs at Boeing and its suppliers across the country," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred. P. Hochberg.

"We believed that it was the right time, in flydubai's third year of operation, to diversify the sources of funding for our aircraft. We are delighted to have the support of Ex-Im Bank and the Private Export Funding Corp. as we continue to grow, and we look forward to developing our relationship with them in the future," said Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai.

In business since 2009, flydubai operates a route network of more than 45 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe. The airline is designated as a national carrier of the United Arab Emirates.

ABOUT EX-IM BANK:

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years (from FY 2008), Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.

Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 – an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales – also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.

SOURCE Export-Import Bank of the United States