Singapore: Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise, owned by Bank of China Ltd., is ordering 40 planes from Airbus SAS and Boeing Co., worth as much as $3.2 billion based on list prices, as it expands its fleet to meet demand.

Asia' & chr(39) & ' & chr(39) & ' & chr(39) & 's biggest plane lessor placed a new order for 20 A320 family of aircraft by Airbus and is also exercising options and purchase rights for 20 of Boeing' series, the Singapore- based company said in an e-mailed statement today (Jan 8, 2007).

 The planes are scheduled for delivery between 2009 and 2012.

"Singapore Aircraft has already placed almost all the aircraft from its existing orders for delivery through to the end of 2009,which is a measure of the sustained demand in the leasing market," Chief Executive Officer Robert Martin said in the statement.

Demand by low-fare carriers is prompting lessors including Singapore Aircraft and International Lease Finance Corp. to expand their fleets. The Asia-Pacific region will need 7,900 planes over the next 20 years, 29 percent of the global demand for aircraft during the period, according to Boeing.

Singapore Aircraft plans to increase the number of planes it owns and manages to as many as 300,Martin said in a Bloomberg interview in September. At present, it manages 12 aircraft for third parties out of the 75 in its fleet, according sources.