Airbus in talks with Air Lease on large orders including freighters

Negotiations are ongoing and it is not clear whether there will be an agreement at this week’s Dubai Airshow, said the people, who asked not to be named in Flux with talks. The discussion could still break down, the people said.

An Airbus representative declined to comment on the order chatter at the airshow. An Air Lease representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside US business hours.

A top-up deal on narrow bodies would hand over the firepower of air leases to accelerate growth coming out of the Covid-19 slowdown. Chief Executive Officer John Pluger said on November 4 that the Los Angeles-based firm has found operators for all of its planes on order by 2023, and current talks with customers are focused on jet leases starting in 2026.

Air Lease, one of the world’s largest aircraft leasing firms, is up against a major competitor after Ireland’s AirCap Holdings acquired the leasing arm of General Electric Co. With their balance sheets weakening following a slowdown in air travel, airlines have become more dependent on financial intermediaries to secure aircraft during the pandemic.

strong case

In the meantime, Airbus will be coup on two fronts, in a year when order activity at the show is expected to calm down.

The planner, based in Toulouse, France, is trying to show that demand is strong enough to scale production of its A320 family of single-aisled jets to pre-pandemic levels and beyond.

The sale in Dubai could bolster this argument, when Airbus Malaysia’s AirAsia X Bhd.

cargo challenge

Securing customers for the A350F is an important goal for Airbus in Dubai, as it attempts to overcome Boeing Company’s dominance in the freighter market, an area where business has been booming during the pandemic.

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Based on data posted online by Airbus, Air Lease has 117 orders outstanding for the popular A321 variant, and just five of the A320 orders. Of the smaller A220s, 50 and 16 A350s are yet to be delivered.

Airbus secured board approval for the A350 freighter in July, but did not announce any customers. A firm commitment to moving forward is the next step after Boeing.

Both manufacturers see industry demand for 900 new-build cargo jets over the next two decades.

Airbus commercial chief Christian Scherer said on Saturday that the need for a low-emissions freighter would outpace demand for the A350F.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.