Q4 results and full-year figures for Avolon indicate a strong performance for the Irish lessor, with 200 new aircraft on order, 43 new aircraft delivered and 147 lease transactions completed during the year. Avolon ended 2023 with an owned, managed and committed fleet of 1,035 aircraft, a 24% increase year-on-year.
“Strengthening market conditions allowed us to place our orderbook and used aircraft at accretive lease rates while underwriting $4 billion of new volume through the sale and leaseback market,” explained Any Cronin, CEO of Avolon. He also highlighted that their balance sheet scale allowed Avolon to order a further 200 new technology aircraft (including 100 A321neos, 80 737 MAXs and 20 A330neos), “which strengthens [their] delivery pipeline and growth into the next decade”.
During 2023, Avolon also sold 31 aircraft (with agreements for 25 more in place by year-end) and raised $4.9 billion of new debt across both public and private markets. Additionally, it upsized its unsecured revolving facility to $4.8 billion, bringing total revolving debt capacity to $6.1 billion at year end.
During Q4, Avolon added two new customers, bringing its total number of airline customers to 146 (operating in 65 countries). It delivered 22 new aircraft and transitioned four aircraft to 11 customers, and entered into agreements for the sale and leaseback of 14 aircraft. During this period, Avolon also closed a private offering of $400 million in senior unsecured notes due 2028, and repriced a $2.3 billion Term Loan B; extending $650 million of the facility from 2027 to 2028.