EETC launched at lowest ever coupon
This month saw Continental Airlines issue a huge EETC worth nearly €900 million at the lowest coupon yet, while Flydubai indicated its intention to pursue Ex-Im bank financing, a contentious issue at present in light of disputes over the remit of export-import banks. Meanwhile, orders for the 737 MAX meant that Boeing beat Airbus' sales in Jan-Feb.

Capital markets feature for quoted lessors
Air Lease Corporation extended its issuance of Senior Notes, due in 2017, from $500 million to $1 billion while AerCap was assigned an investment grade rating by Standard and Poor’s. On the equity investment front, Mitsubishi sold half its share in Jetstar to Century Tokyo Leasing and Fortress Investment Group announced that it will reduce its stake in Aircastle.

'History shows that human ingenuity has always come up with financing sources and that aircraft for reasonable credits always attract finance' - Colm Barrington
Aviation Finance editor KEN O'BRIEN interviews COLM BARRINGTON, CEO of quoted aircraft lessor FLY Leasing, and non executive chairman of Aer Lingus, the Irish carrier, on the 'funding gap', the financial economics of aircraft leasing, and the business model of NYSE-quoted lessor FLY. He says there may be a lack of appreciation of the value of certain types of aircraft assets in the public markets in particular.

Norwegian Air Shuttle's mega order raises interesting questions
Norwegian Air Shuttle's huge order for 222 narrow body aircraft shows that Norwegian believes this is an optimal time to strike a large aircraft order. Norwegian could have the option of either deploying these planes on its own routes or else trading them to others if demand around the world is strong. If that was to evolve as a strategy then Norwegian would be combining the activities of an airline with that of an aircraft financier, something that would prove highly innovative in the industry.

Opportunity for those with solutions as a new aircraft financing gap opens up
Amid the current financial uncertainty some very fundamental assumptions inherent to the nuts and bolts of how airline operational business models function and how their aircraft financing needs are addressed are being challenged. CIAN DOOLEY on the current financing landscape.

AWAS secures USD $500m non recourse warehouse facility, led by JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and RBC
June 13th 2011: AWAS secured a USD $500m non recourse warehouse facility, to aid its 'planned expansion and growth', the company said. Separately, Ascend, the aerospace information company, reported that JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Royal Bank of Canada each provided USD100m each in the facility, with a further USD $75m from Morgan Stanley.

Aercap's CEO: 'There is still real money to be made by prudent lessors'
Aercap's CEO Aengus Kelly talks to Aviation Finance about the point we are at in the leasing cycle, aircraft values, delivery times, post-petition leases, and the 'funding gap', and says aircraft leasing 'is still a really profitable business'. In the interview he also dismisses the idea that used aircraft, particularly narrow-bodies, are suffering from a significant fall in lease rates and value. He paints a positive picture for prudent lessors and expresses AerCap's confidence in its leases with American Airlines, currently under the protection of Chapter 11.

Fears of aircraft overproduction highlighted as lessors repossess planes
AerCap chief executive Aengus Kelly warned against the overproduction of aircraft this month when he questioned the viability of huge orders made by small airlines. Another point of interest was Oaktree Capital Management's move to sell its majority stake in Jackson Square, which comes at an interesting times given the state of commercial lending but also the strength of the RBSA sale and IPO of Air Lease.

Norwegian Air Shuttle plans dynamic asset management
Norwegian Air Shuttle is setting out on a voyage that is composed of a complex and extensive aviation financing task while effectively quadrupling the size of its fleet. If Norwegian can successfully dispose of its existing fleet at a profit and massively expand its short and long haul footprints it will be a huge success story.

Comment: Market volatility could accelerate aircraft lessors' share of commercial fleet
October 5th: Turmoil in global financial markets has led to very significant share price movements in the world’s airlines. Share price declines of up to 50% have been recorded in the past three months, as investors have fled from cyclical and capital intensive companies. This development, coupled with challenges in the commercial banking market, creates a new debate about the aircraft leasing industry. How can it prosper amid the current volatility?

Aviation Finance Commentary: aircraft financing - deja vu again
September 20th: The Airbus COO John Leahy was quite explicit yesterday (Sept 19th) in pointing out concerns about commercial bank financing in the aircraft market.

AWAS favourably reprices $530 m warehouse facility
10 June 2011: Dublin-based aircraft lessor, AWAS, has favourably re-priced its May 2010 $530m Term Loan Facility to achieve a 250bps advantage over the previous terms.