CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing (CDB Leasing), has signed lease agreements for a series of six Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to its current customer, Turkish Airlines.
All six aircraft are part of the lessor's existing orderbook with Boeing. They will be powered by CFM International Leap-1B engines and built with the AnadolouJet-specific configuration, which is a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines. Deliveries are set to take place in 2024 and 2025.
“We’re delighted to have signed these new lease agreements with our valued customer, Turkish Airlines, for the financing of the upcoming six 737 MAX aircraft deliveries from our orderbook,” stated Jie Chen, CDB Aviation’s chief executive officer. “Turkish has become a leader among airlines in undertaking sustainability-focused initiatives to modernize every stage of their flight and ground operations. These highly efficient aircraft will bring Turkish closer to achieving their ambitious sustainability goals by lessening the environmental footprint of their mainline and subsidiary carrier’s flight operations.”
Levent Konukcu, Turkish Airlines chief investment and technology officer, commented: “We are proud to collaborate with partners like CDB Aviation in our pursuit of excellence. Adding these aircraft to the AnadoluJet fleet will contribute significantly to our goals and allow us to present remarkable travel experiences to our passengers."
With the addition of the six MAX aircraft, CDB Aviation will have nine aircraft on lease to the carrier, including one 737-800, one 777-300ER and one A320neo. In 2022, the lessor delivered Turkish Airlines’ first A320neo, which marked a significant step forward in the airline’s ongoing fleet modernization process.
“As you would expect for a lessor with a sizable orderbook, CDB Aviation is continually in discussions with existing and prospective customers on how we can leverage our orderbook and price-competitive leasing products to help the airlines modernize their fleets with new technology aircraft and meet long-term business growth objectives,” said Chen.
In recent days it has emerged that CDB Leasing is up for sale by its parent bank due to a change in policy direction. Analysts speculate whether the leasing unit will be able to continue to borrow cheaply with the change in ownership.