Hong Kong – 14 January 2016 - China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (“CALC” or the “Group”, stock code: 01848.HK), the largest independent aircraft operating lessor in China, is pleased to announce that it has entered into the second Aircraft Purchase Agreements with Airbus S.A.S. (“Airbus”) on 12 January 2016 for two more Airbus A320-200 CEO series aircraft, in addition to the agreement for acquiring two aircraft signed on 31 December 2015, in order to cater for the strong airline customers' demand of the Group's aircraft.
The Group also announced that it has signed Letters of Intent (“LOI”) with two subsidiaries of HNA Group, Lucky Air and West Air, on 5 January 2016 for the leases of two A320CEOs respectively. These four aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2016.
The acquisition of additional aircraft supports CALC’s growth strategy and fleet expansion plan. The second purchase agreement with Airbus brings CALC’s order book to 144 A320 series aircraft. It is estimated that the newly acquired aircraft will be delivered to the lessor by January 2017, and CALC’s fleet will expand to 172 aircraft by 2022. CALC will purchase the two aircraft at an aggregate consideration of no more than US$196 million (equivalent to approximately HK$1.53 billion). The consideration will be partly settled by the Group’s internal resources and partly by financing arrangements with banking institutions.
CALC’s current portfolio consists of 63 current generation Airbus and Boeing aircraft with an average age of less than 4 years. The Group is speeding up its international expansion plans while strengthening its cooperation with Chinese carriers, and targets to build a balanced portfolio of Chinese and non-Chinese airlines client by 2020.