Abuja, Nigeria, 14 September 2023 – Overland Airways of Nigeria has received the first of three new Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) E175 E-Jets. The aircraft was delivered to the airline last week. The twenty-year old West African carrier, an affiliate of the Landover Aviation Services Company, also holds options for three additional aircraft.
Concurrent with the arrival of its new E175s, Overland is aggressively ramping up its presence in Nigeria. It has built a new corporate office and hangar facilities in Lagos. The airline is an Approved Maintenance Organization under the certification of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
Overland’s partner, Landover Aviation Services, runs one of IATA’s top ten aviation training institutions in Africa. The Landover Aviation Business School specializes in airline technical and operations, aviation management, and travel and tourism.
Norwegian is pleased to announce that two Nordic banks have obtained credit committee approval to provide a guarantee for the required 10 percent for the first tranche of 300 million Norwegian kroner (NOK). Norwegian will secure the necessary headroom to pursue further guarantees from the Norwegian Government.
Government measures On Thursday 19 March, the Norwegian Government proposed a guarantee of NOK 6 billion for the Norwegian airline industry, of which up to NOK 3 billion is directed to Norwegian. The guarantee will be up to 90 percent from the Norwegian Government provided that financial institutions contribute with the remaining 10 percent. The guarantee scheme will consist of three tranches with a maximum two years maturity.
Since Thursday evening Norwegian has worked with banks and financial institutions and is pleased to announce that two Nordic banks have obtained credit committee approval to contribute with the 10 percent required in guarantee for Tranche I and to provide the NOK 300 million in financing backed by the guarantee from the Norwegian Government. The Company is working with the banks and the Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency (“GIEK”), who will administrate the guarantee scheme, on the documentation in order to obtain the NOK 300 million in liquidity as soon as possible.
The Company is now working with GIEK and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries to clarify the criteria and terms related to the remaining tranches under the scheme and to obtain further guarantees from financial institutions in order to back such remaining tranches. Norwegian will update the market with its further plan of action and implications for its stakeholders as soon as the criteria and terms have been finalized. The Government guarantee scheme is crucial for the Company as the current state of the capital markets in combination with the challenging times for the airline industry limit the options available. The first NOK 300 million will create necessary headroom to pursue the remaining tranches of the guarantee scheme.
Operational update Currently, most of the fleet is grounded and Norwegian has reduced its operations to a minimum. The airline will now primarily operate domestically in Norway and Sweden and between the Nordic capitals, in order to deliver on its corporate responsibility of maintaining critical infrastructure so that people and necessary goods and medical supplies can be transported during this unprecedented crisis. The limited schedule will remain in place until further notice. In addition, Norwegian has conducted repatriation flights together with the authorities in order to get citizens of Norway, Denmark and Sweden back home.
In order to reduce cost, Norwegian has temporarily laid off approximately 90 percent of its workforce and will continue to implement additional cost measures going forward.
Duluth, Minn. & Knoxville, Tenn. – Cirrus Aircraft has announced the TRAC Series, a purpose-built configuration of the best-selling SR Series line of aircraft developed specifically for flight training institutions. The TRAC Series is thoughtfully crafted with reliability, durability and economy in mind to meet the rigors of high-tempo flight operations, while providing industry-leading safety and performance for both the pilot trainee and flight instructor. Combining the Perspective+TM by Garmin® flight deck along with the unrivaled performance and safety uniquely found in the SR Series, the TRAC Series includes tailored features such as rear seat push-to-talk functionality and a landing gear simulator aimed at increasing training productivity.
“Our commitment to flight training goes far beyond innovation in aircraft design to include a unique approach to attracting and training future generations of aviators,” said Zean Nielsen, CEO at Cirrus Aircraft. “The TRAC Series delivers a 21st century solution for world-class, forward-thinking flight training institutions.”
Designed to be the ultimate training platform, the technologically-advanced TRAC Series boasts an impressive list of features and capabilities that complement the aircraft’s stable flight characteristics. The integrated Perspective+ flight deck includes two large flight displays, a Flight Management System (FMS) keypad controller, an Electronic Stability and Protection system, as well as integrated engine indication and crew alerting/warning systems – all features found on today’s advanced airliners.
“Premier flight programs around the world continue to select Cirrus Aircraft for their training fleets,” said David Moser, Vice President of Fleet & Special Mission Aircraft Sales at Cirrus Aircraft. “These partnerships have been instrumental in our development of the technologically-advanced, cost-effective TRAC platform designed exclusively for leading flight academies and universities across the globe.”
Cirrus Aircraft has redesigned the interior to meet the unique needs of a high-utilization training environment, replacing the luxury materials found in the SR Series with a durable all-weather floor liner and easy to clean wear-resistant seats. The spacious cabin provides an optimal workspace to learn and train, with more space than typical training aircraft, rear seats for additional students or observers and optional air conditioning for comfort in all seasons.
The TRAC SR20 comes equipped with a modern Lycoming IO-390, 215HP power plant, providing reliability and efficiency for up to 2,400 hours before overhaul, and features a durable all-composite airframe structure with the signature Cirrus Airframe Parachute System® (CAPS®), making the TRAC Series one of the safest and most versatile training airplanes available today. The TRAC Series is further enhanced by a wide array of interactive, tailored flight training content through Cirrus ApproachTM, including online courses, engaging videos and the award-winning iFOM (interactive Flight Operations Manual) for convenient learning anywhere in the world.
With the TRAC Series, Cirrus Aircraft is poised to expand an already impressive list of world-class flight training programs around the globe that operate fleets of Cirrus aircraft, including Emirates Airline, Lufthansa Aviation Training, the United States Air Force Academy, Airbus Flight Academy, Western Michigan University, Oklahoma State University, Japan Civil Aviation College, the Royal Saudi Air Force and many more.
NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Apollo Global Management, LLC (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Apollo”) (APO); Athene Holding Ltd. (ATH); and GE Capital, the financial services arm of GE (GE), today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Apollo and Athene to purchase PK AirFinance, an aviation lending business, from GE Capital’s Aviation Services (GECAS) unit. In connection with this transaction, Apollo will acquire the PK AirFinance aircraft lending platform and Athene will acquire PK AirFinance’s existing portfolio of loans.
PK AirFinance is a leading aircraft lending business that serves airlines, aircraft traders, lessors, investors and financial institutions globally with loans to borrowers in more than 40 countries. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, although the $3.6 billion of PK AirFinance financing receivables that were held for sale in the second quarter of 2019 are being sold at a premium to book value in this transaction.
Alec Burger, GE Capital President & CEO, said, “Apollo’s vast lending experience, complementary platforms, and exceptional track record across diversified assets and geographies make it the ideal partner to accelerate PK AirFinance’s growth. This sale is aligned to GE Capital’s overall strategy to become smaller and simpler, and our commitment to reduce our assets by $10 billion in 2019 is now more than halfway complete. We continue to focus on shrinking GE Capital’s balance sheet, achieving a debt-to-equity ratio of less than 4x by 2020, and supporting GE Industrial growth through our remaining GECAS, Energy Financial Services, and Industrial Finance businesses.”
Jim Belardi, CEO of Athene, said, “This transaction provides us with a unique opportunity to acquire a large, diversified portfolio of high-quality loans with attractive risk-adjusted returns. In addition, this deal is another great example of the unique benefits of our strategic relationship with Apollo and its commitment to building direct origination platforms in support of the continued growth of our business.”
James Zelter, Co-President of Apollo, said, “We are very excited to be acquiring the PK AirFinance platform which, under GE’s outstanding stewardship, has become one of the world’s leading aircraft lending businesses, and is highly complementary to our existing aircraft leasing capabilities. This transaction also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to meet the investment needs of Athene and our clients, and is consistent with our objective to continue to expand Apollo’s capabilities to directly originate high quality assets.”
PK AirFinance’s team of investment professionals, who primarily focus on originations and syndications as well as underwriting and portfolio management, will transfer to Apollo upon completion of the transaction.
Per Waldelof, president of PK AirFinance, said, “We have a great team of experts with tremendous execution capabilities and a proven ability to deliver results. We are confident that this transaction will ensure the continued stability of our business. We are excited for the opportunity to continue to serve our customers and the industry as part of the team at Apollo.”
The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2019. Citi and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC provided financial advice and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Clifford Chance LLP provided legal advice to GE Capital. Citi, RBC Capital Markets, and Mizuho provided debt financing for the transaction, and RBC Capital Markets served as financial advisor to Apollo.
