Avolon to Buy a Castlelake Aircraft Leasing Unit

By Siddharth Philip

September 13, 2024 at 8:53AM EDT

An American Airlines aircraft, left, and two JetBlue aircraft, right, taxi on a runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), in New York, U.S., on Monday, March 15, 2010. Passengers at JFK will have fewer travel choices when the summer season begins as air carriers curb flights while runway 13R-31L, which handles half of all departures at the airport, is rebuilt. Flight pullbacks among the 70 airlines serving Kennedy will amount to a 19 percent reduction from their typical levels. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Daniel Acker/Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloom)

(Bloomberg) -- Avolon Holdings agreed to buy a Castlelake LP aircraft leasing unit for an undisclosed sum, in a deal that will add 118 jets to the Irish leasing firm’s portfolio.

The transaction includes 105 planes that are out on lease, plus orders for 13 new planes, Avolon said in a statement Friday. Castlelake Aviation Ltd. total assets stood at $5 billion as of March 31, including the aircraft, two engines on lease and nine loans.

Aircraft lessors emerged as crucial sources of financial support for airlines during the pandemic, when groundings strained carriers’ finances. More recently, consolidation has picked up as higher interest rates made it more expensive for leasing firms to fund aircraft purchases.

Castlelake has other aviation assets that are not part of the transaction, a spokeswoman said.

Castlelake Aviation has up to $3.3 billion of transferable debt that will become available to Avolon at the deal’s closing, expected in the first quarter of 2025. Avolon said it will fund the balance with existing sources of liquidity.

(Corrects story that originally ran Sept. 13 to clarify that Castlelake has other aircraft leasing units that are not part of the transaction)