Lessor Avolon signs 20-aircraft deal with Airbus at Paris Air Show

Irish aircraft leasing giant Avolon has ordered 20 Airbus A330neo jets at the Parish Air Show. The Dublin-based business has also upgraded an existing 50-strong order to the larger A321neo model from A320neo.

No value was disclosed for the deal but the ticket price for the 20 A330neos is understood to be around $6.3 billion (€5.9 billion). A memorandum of understanding signed by Airbus and Avolon says the planes should be delivered between 2026 and 2028.

Avolon also formally signed a deal at the Paris show with Boeing for 40 737 Max 8 aircraft that the lessor announced back in April.

Airbus has enjoyed a record start to the annual air show, securing orders for more than 500 aircraft in the first two days of business.

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“After just two days, the Paris Air Show has already seen an impressive announcement of 1,224 new orders, marking it as the busiest show in 10 years,” said Bill Blake, chief executive of Irish aviation software group Cloudcards, which announced a €1.4 million fundraising that will see it double its staff numbers, beefing up its product development team.

Avolon said the A330neo delivers 25 per cent less fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions than the previous generation of aircraft and offers a range of over 13,300 kilometres.

The Irish lessor was a launch customer for the A330neo back in 2014 and said it had fully placed its current wide-body order book with clients.

“We have been a strong supporter of the A330neo programme since its launch and, with our existing wide-body order book fully placed, we are now locking in future growth in a supply constrained environment,” Avolon chief executive Andy Cronin said. The company expects the number of passenger aircraft worldwide will almost double by 2042.

The surge in orders “signifies a remarkable recovery in passenger demand for both commercial and business flights, while also reflecting the financial markets’ strong confidence in the sector,” Cloudcards’ Mr Blake said.

The Limerick company’s software helps aircraft owners and lessors manage the legal, financial and technical aspects of aircraft leasing. It plans to launch the aviation platform, which will service clients through the asset’s life cycle from purchase to retirement or sale, over the coming 18 months.

Just over half of the world’s commercial aircraft are leased, with the vast majority (13,000) either owned or managed by Irish entities., according to Cloudcards, which added that the leasing market contributed around €1 billion to the Irish economy and employs 10,000 people.

Established 10 years ago, it currently manages around €8 billion worth of client assets, and forecasts this number to exceed €30 billion within the next five years. Notable customers include lessors ATSG/Cargo Aircraft Management, Avmax, World Star Aviation and CMIG and Irish-operated lessors SMBC Aviation Capital, Formidion Aviation, and BBAM.

Cloudcards partnered Focus Capital Partners for corporate finance support in the most recent equity funding round, while Flynn O’Driscoll handled all legal aspects of the transaction