Two U.S. Leasing Companies Biggest Buyers

Airbus kicked off its 2010 Farnborough International Airshow presence with sales announcements for 121 new single-aisle and widebody aircraft Monday – which were led by major acquisitions for A320 Family jetliners from two U.S.-based leasing companies.

Activity at the aviation industry’s biennial UK gathering, being held at Farnborough airport outside of London, began with a morning press conference event for Air Lease Corporation’s (ALC) firm order of 31 A320s and 20 A321s.

This marked the first jetliner purchase for recently-formed ALC, which is led by two pioneers of the aircraft leasing sector: Chairman Steven F. Udvar-Hazy and John L. Plueger, the company’s President and COO. 

“It is a great way to start off the Farnborough Airshow, and Airbus is extremely proud that this new, well-funded force in the business is investing in our products,” said Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders.  “We look forward to building a long-lasting relationship with ALC as a new leader in the aircraft finance and leasing business.”

Udvar-Hazy told reporters that deliveries of ALC’s A320 Family aircraft will begin in January 2011 and continue through the early part of 2015.  ALC was established earlier this year by Udvar-Hazy, and the company already has raised several billion dollars of capital to build its portfolio of aircraft for commercial leases.

Steven Udvar-Hazy

Also announced Monday at Farnborough was GE Capital Aviation Services’ (GECAS) order for 60 A320 Family aircraft – bringing this leasing company’s total A320 orders to 327. 

Both GECAS and ALC will offer Airbus’ Sharklet option on their A320s.  These large wingtip devices provide better overall operating economics, improved runway takeoff performance, enhanced climb capabilities and increased payload range.  The Sharklets are part of Airbus’ continuous A320 Family improvement program, which is backed by more than 100 million euros of annual investment.

Rounding out Airbus’ opening day Farnborough business announcements was Aeroflot’s order for 11 A330-300 widebody jetliners, which will be used on this Russian carrier’s extended network of long-haul destinations.

FMI: www.airbus.com