Scoring Two Score Maxes at Over $4-Billion

Headquartered in Ireland, with offices in the United States, Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong, Avolon provides aircraft leasing and lease management services to airlines and aircraft operators worldwide. Ownership stake in Avolon is split seventy-percent/thirty-percent between Chinese leasing powerhouse Bohai Leasing Co. Ltd and Japan’s ORIX Aviation Systems Limited respectively.

A global leader in the aircraft leasing racket, Avolon—as of March 2023—boasts an aggregate fleet of 830 owned, managed, and committed aircraft.

On 27 April 2023, Avolon announced it had entered into an agreement with Boeing by which it will take delivery of forty 737 MAX narrow-body airliners between 2027 and 2030.

At current list prices, the deal is worth upwards of $4-billion.

Avolon acquired its first 737 MAX in 2017 and its one-thousandth in 2023’s first quarter. The newly-announced forty-plane deal builds on the Sino-Nippo-Irish company’s strong relationship with Boeing and evinces growing market confidence in the long-term demand for the once-troubled aircraft model. The imminent influx of 737 MAXs will increase the size of Avolon’s fleet to a kingly 870 aircraft.

Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft family—by dint of its fuel-efficient CFM LEAP 1-B engines and advanced aerodynamics—provides Avolon’s customers greater route and mission flexibility while reducing fuel use and CO2 emissions by up to twenty-percent over previous generations of narrow-body airliners.

Avolon CEO Andy Cronin stated: “This commitment with Boeing underlines our confidence in the positive momentum in the aviation market and increases our portfolio of young, modern, fuel-efficient aircraft. With strong demand for our new technology orderbook and delivery slots at a premium, it strengthens and extends our delivery profile with Boeing. This commitment will also support our airline customers who are looking to plan beyond the robust post-COVID traffic recovery and prepare for future growth, while also reducing their carbon emissions.”

The transaction is subject to the approval of Bohai Leasing Co., Ltd.’s shareholders, which is expected prior to the end of May 2023.

FMI: www.avolon.aero