Hong Kong-based leasing company Hong Kong Aviation Capital has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to order 40 Airbus A320neo and 20 A321neo aircraft.
The agreement was signed at the Paris Air Show 2013 on June 20 by Donal Boylan, CEO of Hong Kong Aviation Capital (HKAC) and John Leahy, Airbus’ chief operating officer, customers.
Airbus offers the A320neo family with a choice of two different engine types, the Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G geared turbofan and the CFM International LEAP-1A. This computer graphic image shows an A320neo with PW1100Gs fitted. The Pratt & Whitney engine for the A320neo family has a 2-inch larger fan diameter than the LEAP-1A
Along with orders by United Airlines and Spirit Airlines also announced at the Paris Air Show on June 20, HKAC’s MOU for 60 Airbus A320neo-family jets takes the total number of Airbus commercial jets for which the company announced orders and commitments during the first four days of the show to 466 ‒ 24 more than the number announced by Boeing during the four days.
Airbus put a list-price value of $68.7 billion on the 466 aircraft, about $2 billion more than the list-price value Boeing quoted for its Paris-announced commitments and orders for 442 commercial jets.
“All of our business over the last two years has been sale and lease backs of Airbus A320 and A330 aircraft,” says Boylan. “We are proud to now extend this relationship directly with Airbus, and in particular to participate in the already proven success of the A320 NEO order book. This is our first direct order with any aircraft manufacturer and our first commitment for the A320 NEO.”
The A350-900, the first member of the Airbus A350 XWB family, made a successful first flight of 4 hours and 5 minutes on June 14, 2013. The aircraft followed this flight with a second test flight on June 19
“We are delighted to have HKAC as our new customer for the NEO, the world’s best selling single-aisle aircraft,” says Leahy. “We hope to grow our long term partnership with HKAC in the future.”
HKAC currently has a leasing portfolio of more than 50 Airbus aircraft. It has provided financing and leasing services to several airlines in Asia and worldwide.
The company’s June 20 MOU represents the first time HKAC has signed to place an aircraft order directly with any aircraft manufacturer.
Airbus’ Paris deals comprise MOUs for 225 aircraft, which the company values at $29.4 billion; and firm orders for 241 aircraft, upon which Airbus puts a total list-price value of $39.3 billion.
Orders and commitments for the Airbus A320-family in the first four days of the Paris Air Show totaled 371 aircraft, with 88 of these being for the current engine option A320ceo family.
On June 17, 2013, Doric Lease Corp signed a memorandum of understanding at the 50th Le Bourget Airshow in Paris to buy 20 Airbus A380s to offer for operating lease
A key potential transaction was a commitment by existing A320-family operator easyJet to order 100 Airbus A320neo jets and 35 A320ceo aircraft, subject to shareholder approval. Low-cost carrier easyJet, the UK’s biggest airline in terms of the numbers of passengers it carries each year, also said it would option another 100 A320neos.
Airbus’s family of widebody jets also saw considerable sales success at the Paris Show. Doric Lease Corp ‒ which already owns a lease-financing portfolio of 18 Airbus A380 superjumbos ‒ signed an MOU to order 20 A380s for operating lease, saying it was experiencing considerable market demand from airlines which were not existing A380 operators.
Meanwhile, the new Airbus A350 XWB family accumulated new firm orders from Singapore Airlines (for 30 A350-900s, with options on 20); United Airlines, which ordered 10 A350-1000s and converted its previous order for 25 A350-900s to specify A350-1000s instead; Air France-KLM, which ordered 25 A350-900s and optioned 25; and SriLankan Airlines, which signed a commitment for four A350-900s and a firm order for six Airbus A330-300 widebodies.
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