Kuwait's aircraft leasing company ALAFCO plans to enlarge its fleet from the current 18 to 50 by 2010 to meet the strong market demand, local daily Arab Times reported on Tuesday.

"ALAFCO has an ambitious growth plan. We have a target portfolio of 50 planes in the next three to four years," ALAFCO Chairman and Managing Director Ahamed Abdullah al-Zabin was quoted as saying.

Zabin said a drop in oil price from recent all-time high is expected to stimulate the industry.

"The high oil price really hit the bottom line, but things are beginning to stabilize and we expect the profitability to be on the rise. With better earnings, we'll see airlines taking up more routes," he said.

Demand is so strong now that there is a back log of four to five years at the manufacturers, said Zabin.

"You will not get a delivery before that. The market now is at its strongest," he added.

ALAFCO provides planes to a total of eight airlines around the world, including Air India, Malaysian Airlines and two airlines in China.

The company has an asset of 782 million U.S. dollars and made a profit of 7.24 million dollars last year.

It ordered 18 Airbus planes of A350-800 model for 2.9 billion dollars last year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2006)