Plane lessor Avolon signs $11.5b deal for 100 Airbus jets

Chinese-owned Irish leasing company Avolon firmed up its largest ever purchase on Friday with an order for 100 Airbus jets worth $11.5b at list prices, lifting the covers off a deal struck in the face of global trade tensions. Reuters reported in July that Chinese financial firms had placed large orders at the Farnborough Airshow without initially being identified, including Avolon’s preliminary order for 100 jets that has now been finalised and made public. Airbus’s then sales chief Eric Schulz said at the time some Asian buyers were asking not to be named due to sensitivities over trade tensions between China and the United States. Although Europe’s Airbus has not reaped the benefit some had predicted from the standoff - with its own direct sale of jets to China blocked for almost a year - finance sources say China-linked firms have generally been keeping a low profile in order not to be caught on the wrong side of the shifting dispute. China’s Bohai Leasing Co Ltd, controlled by conglomerate HNA Group, said its Dublin-based Avolon Aerospace Leasing unit had signed a firm deal to buy 75 Airbus A320neo jets and 25 of the larger A321neos. The aircraft will be delivered between 2023 and 2026. The deal underscores Avolon’s continued expansion despite financial difficulties faced by the HNA group of companies.<br/>