Chorus Aviation is expanding its leasing portfolio with a new aircraft type and customer, as it has entered into a sale-leaseback agreement with airBaltic of Latvia to acquire five new Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
Two deliveries are anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2019 with the balance set to be completed by the end of the third quarter in 2020.
The agreement marks the addition of the aircraft type to the CAC product offering and brings CAC’s customer base to 15 airlines on six continents, with Steve Ridolfi, President, Chorus Aviation Capital commenting: “We are very pleased to welcome Latvia’s flag carrier, airBaltic to our family of airlines, and to introduce the Airbus A220 aircraft to our product offering,”
“To date, we’ve grown our leasing portfolio to 60 aircraft acquired at approximately US $1.3 billion with approximately US $925.0 million in future contract lease revenue. The pipeline of opportunities remains strong,” he continued.
“We are delighted to have Chorus Aviation Capital as one of airBaltic’s valued partners supporting our Airbus A220-300 fleet modernisation,” said Vitolds Jakovlevs, Chief Financial Officer of airBaltic. “This is another successful A220-300 sale and leaseback transaction that we have closed with great support from Skytech-AIC.”
“The growth momentum in our leasing business continues,” commented Joe Randell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Chorus, adding that the A220 aircraft is a good fit with the company’s aviation services strategy. Chorus had been conducting heavy maintenance work on Dash 8-400s operated by airBaltic.
On completing this transaction and with one other aircraft pending delivery to other customers, CAC’s portfolio will include 43 turboprops and 17 regional jets. When combined with the planned aircraft leased under the Capacity Purchase Agreement with Air Canada, Chorus’ fleet of leased aircraft will reach 131 aircraft valued at approximately US$2.2 billion.
