Air India in pact with China Aircraft Leasing

China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings seeks to expand in Asia after becoming the first plane lessor in the region to go public last month.

The company had signed an agreement with state-owned carrier Air India to lease five Airbus A320s starting next year, chief financial officer Yu Tai-tei said, without providing a value for the contract.

This was the company's first leasing pact with a non-Chinese carrier, Yu said.

Leasing companies are boosting their fleet and expanding across Asia as the region is set to overtake the United States as the world's largest plane market, spurred by demand from China, India and Southeast Asia.

Last month, China said it would encourage its lessors to look for opportunities overseas and yesterday Cheung Kong (Holdings) said it submitted a preliminary proposal for some planes of Awas Aviation Capital.

Even with the overseas expansion, most of China Aircraft Leasing's business would continue to come from its home market, Yu said.

The company, which counts Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines among its customers, has said it has a 3.1 per cent share of the business in the country.