Avolon signs $1.4bn deal to buy 15 Airbus jets

Dublin-based aircraft leasing firm Avolon has inked a deal with leading manufacturer, Airbus, to buy 15 planes with a combined value of $1.4bn (€1.15bn).

It marks Avolon’s second major deal announcement in as many days; with it also announcing this week a $2.3bn deal with Airbus’s rival, Boeing to buy 30 jets.

It is unknown how much Avolon will have to pay for both purchases — final prices are usually discounted from the list prices — but the company will fund both deals from its existing long- term lending facilities.

Avolon’s chief commercial officer, John Higgins, said the Airbus deal “reflects our ambition to play a leading role in financing the next generation of aircraft for the world’s airlines.”

As with the Boeing deal, Avolon is buying next generation fuel-efficient planes from Airbus — in the form of the manufacturer’s A320neo vessels.

This specific model can deliver up to 15% in fuel savings for airline users.

Mr Higgins said: “We are seeing great interest in the superior performance metrics and fuel economy that the neo promises.

“As a full-service aircraft lessor, maintaining a forward order book of new generation aircraft — coupled with our sale and leaseback and other financing capabilities — is central to our service offering and balances portfolio risk,” he added.

The Airbus deal boosts Avolon’s total fleet number to 150 aircraft. The firm currently has a ‘delivered’ fleet — meaning aircraft formally leased out to airlines for commercial use — of 80 and commitments, from customers, in place for a further 25.

Company head and founder Domhnal Slattery said that deals such as the two executed this week proves that Avolon has “a significant and strategic role to play in the aviation finance industry”.