China Aircraft Leasing seeks overseas customers with aggressive fleet expansion

China Aircraft Leasing Group aims to expand its fleet by a fifth to no less than 100 aeroplanes this year and build a 50:50 mix of overseas and domestic clients by 2022, said CE Mike Poon. The Hong Kong-listed lessor also has ambitious plans for its customer base. Its goal is to provide services to 100 clients by 2023, up from 16 last year, Poon said. “We will see our fleet size increasing to 100 aircrafts this year, and our customers will rise to 100 airlines in the first stage of 2023,” said Poon, who ordered 50 Boeing 737 Max planes for US$5.8b last month. In 2014, CALC placed a US$10 billion order with Airbus for 100 of its A320 jets. He said the company is on schedule to expand its fleet size to 232 aircraft by 2023 after the Boeing order.<br/>CALC, which is backed by China Everbright, had 83 planes as of the end of March, mainly models in the Airbus A320 series. “The purchase of Boeing models means we can serve a more diversified range of customers, catering for airlines who only require Boeing aircrafts, for example,” said Poon, who expects to take delivery of no fewer than 40 aircraft annually starting in 2020, more than double the amount last year. Globally, leased aircraft make up 45% of the total market. In China, that figure is just 25% but growing rapidly amid rising aircraft demand.<br/>