THE Saudi aircraft lessor AviLease acquired the Irish aircraft lessor Standard Chartered Aviation Financewhich has a fleet of over 120 aircraftfor a total amount of $3.6 billion.
AviLease, headquartered in Riyadh, also known as Aircraft Leasing, is an aircraft lessor owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Standard Chartered Aviation Finance, a subsidiary of Standard Chartered, is based in Dublin. It owns and manages more than 120 aircraft, leasing them to airlines, and additionally offers services such as fuel supply, debt financing and recommissioning of older aircraft.
With this acquisition, AviLease now has a total of 167 aircraft leased to 46 airlines worldwide. It is part of the network of companies owned by the wealthy Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). ” Acquisition will propel AviLease and in turn support Saudi Arabia’s aviation ecosystem said Fahad Al-Saif, Chairman of AviLease.
As part of the ambitious reform program of its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi oil monarchy has set itself the objective of tripling its air traffic to 330 million passengers by the end of the decade. Last March, the Saudi government launched a second national airline, Riyadh Air, to serve more than 100 destinations around the world by 2030, in addition to the historic flag carrier Saudia. Last November, he announced the construction of a new 57 square kilometer airport in Riyadh, expected to handle 120 million travelers by 2030 and 185 million by 2050.
