Business has its nuances that we sometimes overlook. Many of us might not be aware that these giant aircraft companies which operate around the world, taking us across nations are sometimes leased.
Aircraft leasing is a flourishing business and it is rapidly grabbing eyeballs of various Asian companies who wants to extract the profits from this booming sector. The reason it has seen an uphill movement in recent times is due to the tumultuous scenario of the world socio- economic politics.
Airlines and other aircraft operators lease aircrafts from leasing companies or other airlines for various reasons. It is largely an option for showing a healthy balance sheet as the costs of the aircrafts are huge. Leasing helps airlines to maintain a technologically updated fleet. For leasing companies this is a source for very high returns on its investments. These companies maintain a fleet of high quality aircraft with a large user base. This reduces the risk and opens many leasing options for the aircrafts.
There are mainly two kinds of aircraft leasing: wet leasing and dry leasing. For short term leases, wet leasing and for longer durations the lease is termed as dry leasing.
Ireland: Leading the Aircraft Leasing Market
It all started with Tony Ryan the founder of Guinness Peat Aviation, who introduced to the world the Aircraft leasing industry. Since then Ireland with its financial expertise and favourable tax-regulations has been responsible for carrying out numerous leasing transactions. Though the downfall of Guinness Peat Aviation was a tragic event but it led to the germination of various new firms such as Avolon, GECAS which are strongly operating in the Global Aircraft Leasing Market.
Though recently, Hong–Kong and Singapore are budding up as the probable leasing company hubs, role of Ireland will still be significant. The increased economic activity in the Asia- Pacific region is being seen as a lucrative market for leasing companies.
Global Market and Projections
The Global Aircraft Leasing Market is envisioned to grow at CAGR of around 6% and cross US$ 245 billion by the end of 2021. Moreover, rapidly growing lease rates for narrow body aircraft (NBA), increasing number of low cost carriers (LCCs), and the airline industries need to maintain a fuel efficient fleet is all together creating huge opportunities in the aircraft leasing market. To add to this is the reducing interest rates luring the attention of the investors in the aircraft leasing industry.
Browse our report on “Global Aircraft Leasing Market Research Report - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 – 2021”
Major Players
Some veterans of this sector are:
1.AerCap-World’s largest aircraft leasing company. Headquartered in Amsterdam, AerCap has Aengus Kelly as its CEO. It owns 1563 aircrafts, which includes Airbus and Boeing of various models.
2.ALAFCO- Based in Kuwait, Aviation Lease And Finance Company is jointly owned by Kuwait Finance House and Kuwait Airways. By 2015, it has increased its fleet to 80 aircrafts.
3.Intrepid- Founded by Ron Anderson and headed by Olaf Sachau, it specializes in leasing twin engine and wide body aircrafts.
4. Libra Group- Founded and chaired by George Logothetis, it is an international conglomerate operating in helicopter leasing as well, headquartered in New York.
Latest Scenario of this sector
•Dublin-based aircraft leasing giant AWAS is the latest in the sector to explore a sale or stock market flotation in a move that could value it at up to USD 4 billion.
•AerCap took over US leasing giant ILFC. The deal gave AerCap USD 41 billion in total assets and a fleet of over 1,300 aircraft.
•Avolon, the Dublin-based aircraft leasing firm recently hired JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley to explore a possible market listing or sale.
