Category Archives: Avolon

IAI to Convert A330-300 Aircraft from Passenger to Freighter for Avolon

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will convert A330-300 aircraft from passenger to freighter configuration for Avolon. As part of the agreement with Avolon, IAI will convert 30 Airbus A330-300 jets from passenger to cargo configuration between 2025 and 2028. The signing of the agreement with Avolon, the first customer for cargo conversions of this aircraft model, follows the backdrop of high profits in 2021 and the projected doubling of cargo aircraft traffic in the next 20 years due to increased e-commerce.

Avolon is the third-largest aircraft leasing company in the world, with a fleet of 837 aircraft (as of June 2021). In additional to being the first customer for cargo conversions for this aircraft, Avolon will fully take part in the aircraft conversion and licensing process.

The A330-300 aircraft, which will be converted at IAI, will provide a competitive and advanced solution for cargo and commerce companies looking to expand and improve their widebody cargo jet fleet. The converted model will increase cargo volume capacity with up to 27 main deck pallet positions, one more than the competition, and will improve the cargo loading capacity due to the unique cargo door placement, and will support and enhance the operations surrounding cargo jet flights.

Avolon cancels its orders for 75 Boeing 737 MAX and four Airbus A330neo aircraft

Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company, issues an update for the first quarter (Q1) of 2020.

Dómhnal Slattery, Avolon CEO, commented: “We are currently facing the most challenging period in the history of commercial aviation. The global fleet has been effectively grounded as countries work hard to slow the spread of COVID-19. The impact of the virus has been far reaching and the required response, both on an individual and on a community basis, is without parallel. As a leader in our industry, Avolon is working closely with our global customer base to support them during this period. While we have never seen a crisis of this nature, we remain confident that the industry will recover once the impact of COVID-19 recedes.

Our strategy has always been to operate our business with strong liquidity, low leverage, broad portfolio diversification and minimal near-term debt maturities. Those attributes mean we are well positioned to deal with the challenges presented by the current market environment; support our customers; ensure the health and well-being of our employees; and protect the long-term interests of our investors and shareholders. The Avolon management team has multi- cycle experience and it is at times of market dislocation, such as this, that the full benefit of that experience comes to the fore.

We are proud of our entire team who have embraced the challenges we all now face and who continue to go above and beyond to support all our stakeholders. We believe that our corporate values, TRIBE, will be a key factor that sustains our team throughout this period and ensures we emerge from this period stronger than ever before.

We are a well-capitalised business and ended the quarter with unrestricted cash and undrawn secured warehouse facilities in excess of US$5 billion. Building on our strong capital base, we have acted swiftly and decisively to address the market outlook and have re-profiled elements of our orderbook to better align with market conditions. While we remain committed to the B737MAX programme, we have cancelled commitments for 75 unplaced B737MAX aircraft. We have also cancelled commitments for 4 A330neo aircraft and deferred delivery dates for an additional 25 narrowbody aircraft to 2024 and beyond.

The net impact of our actions in the first quarter is to reduce our aircraft commitments in the 2020 to 2023 timeframe from 284 aircraft, as at year end, to 165 aircraft today and thereby significantly reducing our near-term capital commitments. While these actions reflect the market conditions we now face, Avolon has always maintained a flexible approach to ensure we can adapt to rapidly changing market conditions and align our business with the needs of our customers.

While it remains difficult to determine the length or depth of this crisis, we remain confident in our prospects and in the ability of the industry to recover in the aftermath of COVID-19.”

Q1 FLEET METRICS & OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

  • Cancelled orders for 75 unplaced Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the 2020-23 timeframe with a further 16 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft rescheduled from the same timeframe to 2024 or thereafter;
  • Removed commitments to acquire 4 Airbus A330neo aircraft due to deliver in 2021 and reprofiled 9 Airbus A320neo family aircraft from 2020/21 to 2027;
  • Delivered a total of 29 new aircraft to 9 customers and transitioned 2 aircraft to follow-on lessees;
  • Committed to sell 21 narrowbody and widebody aircraft with an appraised value of $746.8 million to the Sapphire 2020-1 vehicle;
  • Completed the sale of 16 owned aircraft and 2 managed aircraft during the quarter, 13 of which were to the Sapphire 2020-1 vehicle;
  • Quarter on quarter, reduced future aircraft commitments in the 2020 to 2023 timeframe by 119 aircraft, from 284 aircraft as at 31 December 2019 to 165 aircraft as at 31 March 2020;
  • Ended Q1 with an owned and managed fleet of 549 aircraft, with total orders and commitments for 306 aircraft;
  • Executed a total of 39 lease transactions in the quarter comprising new aircraft leases, follow-on leases and lease extensions; and,
  • Ended Q1 with a total of 150 airline customers operating in 62 countries.

Avolon firms up order for 100 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft

Dublin, Ireland headquartered aircraft lessor Avolon has firmed up an order for 75 A320neos and 25 A321neos. The agreement is the single largest order for Airbus aircraft ever placed by Avolon.

The agreement takes Avolon’s cumulative orders with Airbus to 284 aircraft (240 single-aisles and 44 wide-body aircraft) including the A321neo, the A330neo and the A350 XWB.

The new order for 100 aircraft together with the 22 single-aisles and four wide-bodies already delivered, increases Avolon’s Airbus backlog to 258, the largest of any lessor.

Featuring the widest single-aisle cabin in the sky, the efficient A320neo Family incorporates the very latest technologies including new generation engines and Sharklets, which together deliver more than 15 percent fuel and CO2 savings from day one and 20 percent by 2020 as well as 50 percent noise reduction. With more than 6,200 orders received from over 100 customers, the A320neo Family has captured some 60 percent of the market.

Image: Avolon.

Boeing, Avolon finalize a deal for 75 737 MAX airplanes

Boeing and Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company, have finalized an order for 75 737 MAX airplanes. The confirmed order is for 55 MAX 8s and 20 MAX 10s, with options for 20 additional MAX 8s.

The agreement, announced as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the 2017 Paris Air Show, is valued at nearly $11 billion at list prices including the 75 firm and 20 option aircraft.

Launched at the 2017 Paris Air Show, the MAX 10 will have the lowest seat-mile cost of any single-aisle airplane. The new airplanes will bolster Avolon’s airplane portfolio to meet growing customer demand in the narrow-body market segment.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Avolon is one of the world’s leading aircraft leasing firms, with an owned, managed and committed fleet of 915 aircraft as of September 30, 2017. Avolon also has the youngest owned fleet amongst the top three lessors and an order book of exclusively new technology aircraft.

 

Boeing and Avolon finalize an order for 787 Dreamliners, 737 MAXs

Avolon logo

Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) and leasing company Avolon have finalized an order for six 787-9 Dreamliners and five additional 737 MAX 9s, valued at more than $2.1 billion at list prices. Avolon announced a commitment to purchase the airplanes during the 2014 Farnborough Airshow in July.

This marks Avolon’s first order for the 787 Dreamliner and will increase the lessor’s 737 MAX portfolio to 20 airplanes.

The 737 MAX has surpassed 2,200 orders from 47 customers worldwide. The largest in the 737 MAX family, the 737 MAX 9 offers the best fuel-efficiency per seat and will be 7 percent per trip less expensive to operate than its competitor, the A321neo. The 737 MAX 9 provides versatile growth capacity for airlines needing larger single-aisle options in their fleet.

Avolon signs a MOU for 15 Airbus A330neo aircraft

Avolon A330-900neo (Flt)(Airbus)(LRW)_edited-1

Avolon (Dublin), the global aircraft leasing firm, has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 15 of Airbus’ newly launched A330neo aircraft. Avolon becomes a launch customer for the A330neo. The commitment was signed today at the Farnborough International Airshow 2014 by Dómhnal Slattery, Avolon CEO, John Higgins, Avolon President and Chief Commercial Officer and Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO.

The A330-800neo and the A330-900neo are two new members of the Airbus Widebody Family launched in July 2014 with first deliveries scheduled to start in Q4 2017. The A330neo incorporates latest generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, aerodynamic enhancements and new cabin features. Benefitting from the excellent economics, versatility and high reliability of the A330, the A330neo reduces fuel consumption by 14% per seat, making it the most cost efficient, medium range Widebody aircraft on the market. In addition to greater fuel savings, A330neo operators will also benefit from a range increase of up to 400 nautical miles and all the operational commonality advantages of the Airbus Family.

Image: Airbus.

Boeing and Avolon announce a commitment for 787 Dreamliners and additional 737 MAXs

Avolon 787-9 and 737 MAX 9 (Boeing)(LRW)

Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) and Avolon (Ireland) have announced the leasing company’s commitment for six 787-9 Dreamliners and five additional 737 MAX 9 airplanes, valued at more than $2 billion at current list prices.

This commitment marks Avolon’s first order for the efficient 787 Dreamliner and will increase the lessor’s 737 MAX portfolio to 20 airplanes. When finalized, the order will be posted on the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website.

According to Boeing, “The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is the second member of the super-efficient 787 family. Both the 787-8 and 787-9 bring the economics of large jets to the middle of the market, with 20 percent less fuel use and 20 percent fewer emissions than similarly sized airplanes and passenger-pleasing features. At 20 feet (6 meters) longer than the 787-8, the 787-9 extends the family in capacity and range, flying more passengers and more cargo farther.”

Image: Boeing.