BOC Aviation buys five Airbus A320s as air travel demand soars
The Bank of China subsidiary, which raised HK$4.52 billion in its Hong Kong public listing in June, entered into the deal in the wake of a growing appetite among customers for larger aeroplanes.
It revealed in a statement that the money to be paid for the five Airbus aircraft was lower than the list price of about US$574.5 million (HK$4,481.1 million) following price adjustments, pending negotiations between the two parties. The planes are scheduled for delivery in 2017.
The Airbus A320 range of single-aisle jets are among the best sellers of the European planemaker, which plans to boost production despite concerns over a sputtering economy.
Airbus has recently bagged a couple of orders of its A320 jetliners from Turkey and India and lifted its 20-year demand forecast by 500 in July as air travel demand in Asia continues to rise.
Its lease rental income jumped 5.7 per cent to US$516 million, with the Asia Pacific market registering 12 per cent year-on-year growth to US$180.73 million.
BOC Aviation owns and manages a fleet of 270 aircraft, and has another 241 on order. The company said it planned to use the funds raised from its IPO to make pre-delivery payments and future purchases of additional aircraft.
Cornerstone investors in the IPO included Boeing and China’s sovereign wealth funds.