13 Dec 2002
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft announced today new aircraft leases covering both its own portfolio of aircraft as well as a further transaction for its increasingly successful Trading and Services team.
The new leases comprise:
- A new lease of BAe 146-200 (E2018) to Corporate Air Travel of BAE Systems. This aircraft was previously operated by flybe.com and when delivered in January 2003 will operate alongside Corporate Air Travel's BAe 146-100 on inter-factory corporate shuttle services between BAE Systems' locations and those of its partner companies in Continental Europe;
- A lease extension of BAe 146-100 (E1152) with National Jet Systems (NJS) of Adelaide, Australia. This aircraft was previously operated by NJS on behalf of Qantas Airlink, but is now being used by NJS in a new mining transportation contract in Western Australia;
- The Trading and Services team has negotiated the lease of two more Airbus A319-112s that were previously operated by Sabena. The aircraft (msns 1336 and 1388) will be leased by SN Brussels Airways and will be delivered in February and March next year. The aircraft are part of a Trading and Services agreement between BAE Systems and a consortium of banks, signed earlier this year whereby BAE Systems manages and re-markets four A319s and one A321 aircraft on behalf of the consortium;
- Two more Jetstream 32s in corporate configuration (msns 862, 865) have been leased to Corporate Flight of Tennessee and one Jetstream 31 (msn 768) has been sold to Aero Holdings, an aircraft brokerage company in Florida.
These new transactions build upon business already won this year in a difficult market by the asset management team of BAE Systems Regional Aircraft. Among the highlights of the year to date have been a major lease extension with Turkish Airlines (THY) covering its fleet of Avro RJs, as well as new leases with CityJet for a BAe 146-200 and with Westair Sweden for an ATP.
Jetstream business transacted so far this year includes lease transactions for 15 Jetstream 32s and sales of 18 Jetstream 31/41 aircraft. Most recently these have involved the lease of three more Jetstream 32EPs to Origin Pacific Airlines of New Zealand, and a further lease of a Jetstream 32 to Svenska DirektFlyg A.B. of Sweden. In addition, Canadian operator Northwestern Air Lease Ltd has purchased two Jetstream 31s.
The Trading and Services team transacted a lease with CCM Airlines of Ajaccio, Corsica for two of the four Airbus A319-112s that it is remarketing on behalf of a consortium of banks. It also secured a significant sale and leaseback transaction with Air Malta and HSBC Bank Plc for seven Avro RJs that also includes a management contract for the aircraft on behalf of HSBC Bank Plc.
