AMTRA Aero and Nehalem Aviation have formed a joint leasing business, Nexus Aviation Ventures. The business will source, convert and lease A321 freighter aircraft.
“We are excited to be working together with the Nehalem team. We believe the A321 platform is the future of narrowbody freighters,” said Pablo Aguirre, AMTRA chief commercial officer.
The partners said their joint venture has signed a purchase agreement for its first aircraft and has a second under LOI having secured conversion slots with 321 Precision Conversions in the second half of 2023. The first freighter will delivered during the first quarter of 2024.
AMTRA Aero was formed in 2021 by the Coretz family, former owners of Omni Air International, as an aircraft and engine leasing platform. Nehalem was formed in 2020 and secured its first aircraft, a Boeing 757-200 which was converted by Precision Conversions to freighter configuration and leased to Amerijet Aircraft Leasing.
McCullough, principle in Nehalem, said “We see our joint venture with AMTRA as both an alignment of like-minded family offices with complimentary skills to that of our organization. Our first A321 acquisition bore this out and we will soon be actively marketing the aircraft to air cargo operators."