China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited has signed a Letter of Intent with Pegasus Airlines for the lease of two new A320 aircraft, which are scheduled for delivery in June 2016. Upon execution of a firm leasing agreement, Turkey’s leading low cost airline will become CALC’s first customer in Europe. The aircraft will be equipped with two CFM56-5B4 engines and with Sharklets installed, have a Maximum Take-Off Weight of 77 tons. CALC and Pegasus are amongst the first customers benefiting from the A320 Family new exit limits and Space-Flex module which in all increases the A320 seating capacity from 180 to 186 seats while retaining the 18” (45.72 cm) wide seat.
“The Turkish civil aviation market has been one of the fastest developing markets and we are very proud to partner with Pegasus, the fastest growing carrier among the 25 largest European airlines, to provide them with our new Airbus A320 Aircraft to support their affordable and on-time air travel service,” Jens Dunker, Senior Vice President - Aircraft Trading and Global Marketing of CALC said, “The inclusion of Pegasus into our client list marks our milestone for expanding our footprint from Asia to Europe, after establishing our long-term partnership with Air India in 2014.”
Pegasus Airlines’ CFO Serhan Ulga said, “We are delighted to be welcoming the addition of CALC's 2 new Airbus A320ceo aircraft to our young and growing fleet. The new aircraft will be the first A320 Aircraft with a 186 seat capacity to join our fleet. We are very happy to be working with CALC and certainly hope that our initial agreement will lead to establishing a strong long-term partnership.”
“The commitments from our overseas clients and the recent joining of Christian Mc Cormick, former CEO of Natixis Transport Finance, a leading expert in aviation financing, emphasizes the growth of our company into international markets. CALC will step up its effort in overseas expansion and in enhancing our cooperation with well-regarded overseas airlines like Pegasus, in order to diversify its portfolio” added Jens Dunker.