Asia Pacific Aviation Leasing (APAL), a Hong Kong based global aircraft lessor established in 2016, has completed its first sale-and-leaseback transaction by delivering two Airbus A320s to West Air, the Chongqing-based low-cost carrier, through its newly established aviation leasing platform – Asia Pacific Finance Leasing (Tianjin) – in the Dongjiang Free Trade Port zone (DFTP). The first aircraft was delivered on 7 November 2017 in Tianjin, China while the second aircraft was delivered on 14 November 2017 in Toulouse, France. Both aircraft were financed by a mix of APAL’s own equity and bank loans from a bank in China.

“We are delighted to commence our aircraft leasing business in China with West Air, our first customer in China as well. It is amazing that we have completed this transaction in about one-and-a-half-month time after our initial talk with West Air in mid-September 2017. It has also proven the ability of our well-experienced team, the strong support from banks and the DFTP zone as well as our commitment to provide first class leasing services to our customers. We target to do more deals in China through our newly established aviation leasing platform in the DFTP zone.” says Dr. Zhao Hongwei, chief executive officer of APAL.