Aviation Finance

Aviation Finance Vol. 15 No 13, June 26th 2025. ISSN 2009-7859

Paris Air Show 2025

Paris 2025 orders: Vietjet, Avilease and ANA lead the way

Airbus had an almost clear run at new aircraft order announcements at the 2025 Paris Air Show as circumstances conspired to take the wind out of the sails of this year’s marquee aeronautical industry get together. These included the recent Air India tragedy which saw Boeing elect to scale back its activity at the show, a very recent US trade mission to the Middle East which saw a spate of order announcements well ahead of the show, the economic uncertainty around US trade policy and the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East (which saw a number of defense company exhibitor stands at the event ordered to be shut down after failing to comply with new requirements around the display of weapons).

Leasing Business

Muted lessor activity symptomatic of a quiet Paris Air Show

In a relatively muted Paris Air Show there was a dearth of major lessor moves with only a single major aircraft order and just two significant leasing agreements announced during the bi-annual event at Le Bourget, near Paris.

Aviation Business

Global commercial aircraft fleet forecast to double over the next 20 years

Boeing and Airbus's latest global fleet forecasts both predict a doubling of the global commercial aircraft fleet over the next 20 years to meet projected rising demand for air travel with in excess of 40,000 commercial aircraft deliveries required over the period.

Developments

ACG closes $1 billion secured loan; Griffin delivers Boeing MAXs to new customer United Airlines

Aviation Capital Group closes $1 billion secured loan; Avation sells two aircraft; AELF closes $55m credit facility with Merchants Bank; Griffin Global Asset Management delivers six MAX 9s to new customer United Airlines; CDB Aviation delivers three A320neos to Volaris; HALO AirFinance closes financing for vintage 747; SMBC Aviation Capital agrees lease with Air Cairo; High Ridge Aviation delivers A220s to Breeze; CALC agrees two aircraft lease deal with Uzbekistan Airways.

  
In this issue

In this issue

In this issue we look at the activity at the Paris Air Show 2025, where the final firm order figures failed to live up to pre-show expectations as Boeing scaled back its activity in the aftermath of the Air India tragedy. We also look at lessor activity with the largest lessors, many with multi-year aircraft order backlogs, holding off on making new orders. We also look at Boeing and Airbus' fleet forecasts in this issue while an inaugural forecast, for the urban air mobility market, also features - as do efforts by a number of national aviation safety authorities to standardise new aircraft types and streamline their entry into service.

Aviation Business

The $280 billion urban air mobility opportunity

An inaugural Global Market Outlook for the nascent urban air mobility market focuses on the potential growth and demand in the urban air travel market which, the report predicts, will be driven by further urban population growth, demand for sustainable travel and increasing ground traffic concerns. The UAM Global Market Outlook sees an opportunity for a global fleet of 30,000 electric air taxis by 2045.

Aviation Business

National aviation authorities come together to streamline entry to market of new aircraft types

Five national aviation authorities have joined together to develop a roadmap that aims to streamline the certification and validation process for new aircraft types across international boundaries, while ensuring strong and consistent safety standards and helping promote technological innovation. The initiative, it is hoped, should allow Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) aircraft, such as electrical vertical take-off aircraft, be be certified in a unified and streamlined way in the future across the five jurisdictions.

Leasing Business

AerCap to set up engine leasing JV supporting AF-KLM’s MRO customers

AerCap and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) plan to set up an engine leasing joint venture for CFM LEAP engines that will aim to support the MRO’s global customers. The move comes as demand for spare engines remains very strong, driven by teething problems, durability issues and supply constraints with new technology narrowbody engines. Such is the elevated level of demand for these engines a number of relatively young Airbus A320neos are being part-out due to the value of their engines.