AerCap sees no sign of travel boom end as lifts earnings forecast

AerCap raised its full-year earnings guidance on Monday, saying it saw no signs of travel demand abating and that it would take manufacturers "several years" to catch up with aircraft delivery delays and ease capacity constraints. The world's largest aircraft lessor said airlines will have to fly old planes for longer as a result, benefiting lessors who have increased lease rates sharply and sold older aircraft at higher margins since the post-pandemic recovery in travel. AerCap also launched a new $500m share buyback programme on Monday after growing its second quarter revenues by 15% year-on-year to almost $2b. "We see no signs of demand abating and some of the commentary that has come out of one or two of the US carriers in the last week or two about a decline in yields - that's off exceptionally high levels. They do not impact the demand for aircraft," CE Aengus Kelly told analysts. US airline stocks tumbled last Tuesday after investors were spooked by a downbeat forecast from Alaska Air, while Southwest signaled softer pricing for the current quarter two days later. Kelly said even if there is a mild European or US recession, that would not derail the supply-demand dynamic as any weakness would be offset by positive momentum from Asia, where COVID-19 curbs have more gradually lifted.<br/>