Gary Chapman, Emirates' President of Group Services in charge of finances said the airliner will need to raise more than Dh100 billion over the next seven years to expand its fleet.He told Bloomberg that the airline would raise $1.3bn (Dh4.77bn) through March 2011 and about $27bn (Dh99bn) for the following 6 years as it will take delivery of 2 aircrafts each month for the next 6 years.

Emirates is weighing all "customary financing vehicles" including going to the capital markets, enhanced equipment trust certificates, a debt instrument that allows a carrier to take possession of an asset and pay for it over time, he said.

"In an ideal world we'd like to get about 85% financing" from debt and the remainder from equity, the executive said, adding that the airline has $3.4bn in cash and will not be forced to pay high interest rate on the loans.

The financing plan is "substantial because it's pretty close to double what we've done in the previous 14 years," he said.

The airline may repay some bonds or look at rescheduling them depending on financing costs, Chapman added.

It has about $5.3 billion of outstanding debt, including a $500 million bond arranged by HSBC Holdings that is due in March and a $250 million bond due in June 2011, according to the carrier's financial statements.