Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) based aircraft lessor Sirius Aviation Capital Holdings has bought 10 narrowbody mid-life jets from Singapore-based lessor BOC Aviation in the first five months of the year.
Sirius entered into joint ventures (JV) with US-based aviation investors Corrum Capital and HPS Investment Partners to acquire the jet, without specifying the aircraft type, it said in a statement.
Sirius’ share of the JVs was funded through a commitment from its anchor investor Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners (ADCP), which is a joint venture between Mubadala Investment Company and US investment company Falcon Edge.
Howard Millar CEO – Sirius Aviation
“We are delighted to have grown our fleet to 10 aircraft during the worst year in the history of commercial aviation. This is testimony to the strength of our business model, which is to acquire aircraft on lease to top tier airline credits availing of the attractive returns available in mid-life, single-aisle aircraft leasing. We look forward to working closely with our investors, shareholders and the ADGM team to deliver these ambitious targets. We continue to see attractive investment opportunities in aviation as traffic volumes recover due to the global rollout of vaccines.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is the worst crisis to hit the aviation industry, hurting airlines, plane manufacturers, lessors and other companies in the supply chain as demand for air travel came to a near-standstill in 2020.
Last year, Sirius began operations in ADGM and it plans to more than double its fleet to over 20 aircraft in the next 12 months, and to 100 in the next three years, the company said.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects the outlook for global airlines to brighten in the second half of the year. Total air passenger numbers in 2021 will be 52 percent lower than they were in 2019, before bouncing back in 2022 to 88 percent of their pre-crisis levels and exceeding pre-pandemic levels in 2023.
Cash-strapped airlines have deferred payments to lessors, which have shored up funding and delayed taking deliveries from Boeing and Airbus due to the impact of the pandemic, after expanding rapidly during the industry boom over the last few years.
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