Chinese aircraft-leasing firm BOC Aviation to buy 20 more Airbus jets

BOC Aviation, the aircraft-leasing division of Bank of China, one of the big four state-owned commercial banks of the People’s Republic of China, has placed additional orders with Airbus Industrie for 20 aircraft of the Airbus A320 family.

These orders for Airbus were largely those taken over from an existing order for Airbus aircraft placed by Skybus Airlines, the low-cost, United States-based carrier that halted its operations in April 2008, a statement from Airbus Industrie said.

In all, BOC Aviation has now ordered 98 single-aisle aircraft directly from Airbus, of which 58 have already been delivered. BOC Aviation also has five Airbus A330-200F freighters on firm order for future delivery.

BOC Aviation, formerly called Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE), is a company engaged in sales and leasing of commercial aircraft to airlines and is the largest Asia-based aircraft-leasing company. It is headquartered in Singapore and has offices in the United Kingdom and the United States. Aircraft owned by BOC Aviation are currently in service with airlines in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. The company’s fleet is mainly composed of aircraft from the Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737 and 777 series.

The European aerospace consortium Airbus Industrie is the aircraft-manufacturing subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, has significant activity across Europe, and produces around half of the world’s jet airliners.

The Airbus A320 family – which includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321 – is recognised as the benchmark single-aisle aircraft family. According to the company’s statement, each of these aircraft features fly-by-wire controls and all share a unique cockpit and operational commonality across the range. Over 6,300 aircraft of the Airbus A320 family have been sold and more than 3,600 have been delivered to some 280 customers and operators worldwide, making it the world’s best-selling commercial jetliner ever.

Robert Martin, managing director and chief executive officer of BOC Aviation, was quoted by the media as saying at the Zhuhai Air Show in China: “Our latest orders reflect ongoing demand for leased aircraft from the A320 family at both full-service and low-cost airlines around the world. The decision to acquire these additional aircraft also represents a sound investment in a proven asset, offering long-term value for our business.”

The website guardian.co.uk quoted John Leahy, Airbus’ chief operating officer (customers), as commending on BOC Aviation’s aircraft orders: “The order from BOC Aviation is another vote of confidence in the proven appeal of the A320 family, especially as airlines around the world look to replace older aircraft with newer, more efficient models. It also reflects the proven underlying value of the A320 Family as a long-term investment for the aircraft-leasing community.’

The catalogue prices of planes of the Airbus A320 family range between $73.2 million and $80.6 million, according the company’s website. So the new deal with BOC Aviation’s would come to around $1.6 billion.

However, planes are usually sold at prices lower than the catalogue prices.