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Air Lease Announces Delivery of A350-900 to Sichuan Airlines

Today Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL; “ALC”) announced the delivery of one new Airbus A350-900 aircraft on long-term lease to Sichuan Airlines. Featuring Trent XWB-84 engines, this A350-900 is the first ALC A350-900 to deliver to an airline in China. The aircraft is from ALC’s order book with Airbus and joins eight Airbus aircraft currently on lease from ALC to Sichuan Airlines for a total of nine aircraft.

“Sichuan Airlines is a loyal long-term customer of ALC and we are pleased to be leasing our new A350-900 to the airline,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, Executive Chairman of Air Lease Corporation. “This significant delivery further strengthens our close relationship and we are confident this new widebody aircraft will complement the airline’s current fleet operations, adding technological and innovative advancements that will bring a whole new experience to Sichuan’s offerings.”

“We are very pleased to announce this new A350-900 delivery to our distinguished customer, Sichuan Airlines,” said Jie Chen, Air Lease Corporation’s Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Asia. “ALC is proud to introduce the airline to the A350-900 and pioneer modernizing the airline’s long-haul fleet to maximize Sichuan Airlines’ fleet operations and global growth.”

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

China’s Huge Airbus Order Padded by Old & Incomplete Deals


Exclusive: China’s huge Airbus order padded by old or incomplete deals – source

PARIS (Reuters) – A landmark order from China for 300 Airbus jets signed during a state visit last week was bolstered by repeat announcements of dozens of existing deals and advance approval for deals that have yet to be struck, two people familiar with the matter said.

Echoing an umbrella order for 300 Boeing jets awarded during a visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017, the headline figure for the new “framework order” for European jets was partly driven by political considerations, the people said.

The Airbus deal would have been worth some $35 billion at list prices but the amount of new business is lower, they added. Duplicate announcements included a deal for 10 A350 aircraft to an unnamed buyer, which represents a repeat announcement of an order for 10 jets by Sichuan Airlines at an air show last year.

The disclosure takes some of the shine off an announcement widely regarded as the economic highlight of a trip to Europe by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Nonetheless the deal marked a return to the aircraft market by China’s state buying agency after a pause of over a year during global trade tensions.

The overall figure of 300 was introduced late in the process and after Xi’s visit was underway, although plane orders typically take months to negotiate, one of the people said.

Airbus declined to comment on detailed orders but left open the possibility that the large total contained gaps.

The agreement “creates the approval framework for aircraft ordered by Chinese airlines, be it existing orders or future orders,” a spokesman said.

TRADE TIES

Airbus shares fell 0.7 percent on Tuesday, extending earlier losses after Reuters reported gaps in the China deal. Airbus’ stock had risen almost two percent after China’s mega-order, signed in Paris on March 25 in front of Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Industry sources say major planemakers play by similar rules when selling to China, where they face a two-tier system of negotiations with airlines within a framework of state-backed umbrella deals that may be influenced by geopolitics.

But the headline figures for new orders during high-profile diplomatic visits, which for several years hovered around 150 aircraft for both Airbus and Boeing, have increased as trade ties between Washington and China go through highs and lows.

In November 2017, months before a trade war erupted with the imposition of tariffs, China announced an order for 300 Boeing jets during a visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Analysts expressed doubts at the time over how much of that was new business, and said part of the announcement represented renewed government support for deals already on Boeing’s books.

“The most recent Airbus and Boeing deals followed a similar pattern,” said a China aircraft industry specialist.

Boeing is now seen as next in line to secure a 200-300-plane order as part of a possible economic truce being negotiated to end the trade war, but the recent grounding of one of its jets has cast uncertainty over the timing of the deal.

Boeing and Airbus compete fiercely to serve the needs of the world’s fastest-growing airplane market, while bracing for future competition from China’s own aerospace industry.

Analysts say Beijing tends over time to balance U.S. and European purchases, though recent years have seen the rise of a growing number of independent Chinese leasing companies and an increase in autonomous decision-making by several airlines.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Additional reporting by Marine Pennetier; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Richard Lough)

Airbus & Boeing Deals @ Farnborough Airshow

(Reuters) – Following is a summary of commercial aircraft deals announced by Airbus (AIR.PA) and Boeing (BA.N) at the Farnborough Airshow in southern England.

The two companies have so far signed deals worth more than $100 billion at current list prices. However, this is a gross number. Several of the deals firm up provisional ones, disclose previously unidentified buyers, or change existing orders, making it hard to gauge the level of new business.

AIRBUS DEALS – $57 billion

** GOLDEN FALCON AVIATION (for Wataniya Airways): confirmed an order for 25 Airbus A320neo jets for Kuwait’s Wataniya Airways worth about $2.8 billion at list prices.

** GOSHAWK AVIATION: a firm order for 20 Airbus A320neo jets worth about $2.2 billion at list prices.

** LEVEL (low cost of IAG): firm order for two A330-200s, worth around $477 million at list prices. https://bit.ly/2Jumrbv

** MACQUARIE FINANCE: ordered 20 A320neo jets in a deal worth about $2.2 billion at list prices.

** PEACH AVIATION: updated a previous deal for 10 A320neo, changing it to eight A320neo and two A321LR planes. The deal would be worth around $1.1 billion at list prices.

** SALAMAIR: signed an agreement to add six new A320neo aircraft to its fleet. The deal would be worth around $700 million at list prices.

** SICHUAN AIRLINES: ordered 10 Airbus A350 XWB jets, confirming a deal struck earlier this year. The order is worth about $3.2 billion at list prices.

** STARLUX AIRLINES: signed a preliminary deal for 17 Airbus A350 jets worth an estimated $6 billion at list prices.

** UGANDA AIRLINES: signed memorandum of understanding for two A330-800neo aircraft, worth around $0.5 billion at list prices.

** UNDISCLOSED CUSTOMER: order for 100 A320neo family aircraft worth about $11.5 billion at list prices.

** UNDISCLOSED CUSTOMER: a preliminary deal for 80 A320neo jets with a leasing firm. The deal would be worth around $8.8 billion at list prices.

** UNDISCLOSED CUSTOMER: has signed a commitment for six A330neo family aircraft. The deal would be worth around $1.6 billion based at current list prices. https://bit.ly/2uJJsBT

** U.S. AIRLINE START-UP: a commitment for 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft worth about $5.5 billion at list prices.

** VISTARA: a letter of intent to buy 13 Airbus A320neo aircraft and commitment to taking a further 37 A320neos from leasing firms. The deal for all 50 aircraft would be worth around $5.5 billion at current list prices.

** VIVA AEROBUS: firmed up a deal for 25 incremental A321neo and 16 conversions of A320neos to A321neos. The 41 planes are worth around $5.3 billion at list prices.

BOEING DEALS – $82 billion

** AIR LEASE CORP (AL.N): committed to buy as many as 78 Boeing aircraft in a deal valued at $9.6 billion at list prices.

** AVIATION CAPITAL GROUP: order for 20 737 MAX 8 airplanes, valued at $2.34 billion at list prices.

** DHL: a $4.7 billion deal for four Boeing 777 Freighters, and purchase rights for seven additional freighters.

** GECAS: an agreement for 35 additional 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters. The deal includes 20 firm orders and an option for 15 more. The deal for 35 aircraft would be worth around $3.6 billion at list prices. http://bit.ly/2mme2O5

** GOL AIRLINES: an order for 30 737 MAX 10 Airplanes, 15 MAX 8s. New agreement converts some MAX 8 orders to the larger MAX 10 model, adds 15 more jets. The deal for 45 aircraft would be worth $5.7 billion at current list prices.

** GOSHAWK AVIATION: an order for 20 737 MAX jets valued at $2.3 billion at current list prices.

** JACKSON SQUARE AVIATION: a firm deal to buy 30 737 MAX 8 aircraft, valued at about $3.5 billion at list prices.

** JET AIRWAYS: ordered an additional 75 737 MAX 8 airplanes valued at $8.8 billion at current list prices.

** QATAR AIRWAYS: finalised an order for five 777 Freighters, valued at $1.7 billion at list prices.

** SEACONS TRADING: ordered a Boeing Business Jet MAX 7, worth $96 million based on current list prices.

** TAROM ROMANIAN AIR TRANSPORT: a $586 million order for five 737 MAX 8 airplanes.

** UNITED AIRLINES (UAL.N): expanded its commitment to the 787 Dreamliner programme with an order for four more 787-9 planes, worth about $1.1 billion according to current list prices. https://bit.ly/2NXKYJw

** UNDISCLOSED CUSTOMERS: sign commitments for 40 High-Capacity 737 MAX 8s, 53 MAX 8 Airplanes, worth nearly $11 billion at current list prices

** VIETJET (VJC.HM): provisionally ordered 100 Boeing 737 MAX jets, worth about $12.7 billion at current list prices

** VISTARA: confirmed an order for six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, with an option to buy four more. The deal for the 10 planes would be worth about $2.8 billion at list prices.

** VOLGA DNEPR: committed to buying 29 of Boeing’s 777 freighter aircraft and five of its 747-8 freighter, in a deal worth about $11.8 billion at list prices.

(Compiled by Joao Manuel Mauricio, Katarzyna Piasecka and Anna Pruchnicka in Gdynia; Editing by Mark Potter)

Sichuan Airlines signs purchase agreement for 10 Airbus A350-900’s

Sichuan Airlines of China has signed a purchase agreement for 10 Airbus A350-900’s. The deal is subject to government approval, and valued at 200 billion yuan ($31.56 billion) at list price. This represents the largest aircraft order ever by the Chengdu-based airline, although major customers usually negiotiate large discounts.

The airline announced the order following the leasing of 4 A350-900’s through AerCap (3) and Air Lease Corporation (1). Those aircraft had been slated for Sri Lankan Airlines, but that airline canceled the order last year amid high debt levels. The first of the leased A350-900’s was spotted in September of last year sporting a panda livery. The airline expects the A350’s to serve the international market, and has applied for nonstop service from Chengdu to Los Angeles.

Sichuan Airlines is partially owned by the provincial government, as well as stakes held by China Southern, China Eastern, and Shandong Airlines. Sichuan is currently the largest Airbus operator in China, operating over 130 of the European aircraft. These operations including the A320-neo, A321, and both A330 200 and 300 series aircraft. It’s current long-haul flights operate to Moscow, Vancouver, and Auckland. The carrier has also placed a firm order for 20 of the Chinese built Comac C919 narrow body aircraft.