The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund with $620bn assets under management, has entered into the world of aircraft leasing with the launch of a new leasing platform, AviLease.
The new lessor, which will have a core focus on leasing, trading and asset management services, is headed by industry veterans Ted O’Byrne, former managing director at Carlyle Group, Alec Burger, former CEO of GECAS, and David Power, former CEO of ORIX Aviation and current executive chairman of Aergo Structured Products at Aergo Capital. Power and Burger will be board directors with PIF executives, while O'Byrne will be chief executive officer of the new company.
PIF aims to invest SR356bn (US$100bn) into the aviation sector to 2030 as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 realization program, of which AviLease will play a major role.
AviLease will initially focus on scaling through purchase-and-lease-back transactions with airlines, portfolio acquisitions and direct orders from aircraft manufacturers. AviLease has further confirmed that it will also look into expansions through corporate acquisitions. The company’s fleet will consist of the new generation of narrow-body and wide-body aircraft and more detail on the lessor’s initial portfolio is expected to be released during the Farnborough airshow.