And the boom goes on

Aircraft leasing companies are booking record profits, committing to bumper aircraft orders and increasing their fleets to meet demand, reports associate editor and chief correspondent, Tom Ballantyne.

August 1st 2025

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When lessor Avolon recently confirmed orders for 75 A321neo and 15 A330neo, after 70% Bohai Leasing Co., Ltd owner, approved the deal at a shareholders meeting, it underscored that the leasing market is on a definite upward trajectory. Read More »

The commitment takes Avolon’s Airbus commitments to 413 aircraft made up entirely of A320neo family and A330neo new technology aircraft. The order includes purchase rights for another 25 A321neos and options for 15 more A330neos. Avolon has 145 A320neo family aircraft in its delivered fleet.

The massive investment follows a March order from BOC Aviation for 70 new A320neo family aircraft with deliveries scheduled to 2032. It built BOC’s Airbus order book to around 200 aircraft and increases its Airbus aircraft deliveries to more than 700 since it signed for its first aircraft with the European OEM in 1996. In the same month, BOC announced it will acquire 50 B737-8s from Boeing with customer airlines to accept their single aisles to 2031.

“This order solidifies our position as one of the top five global aircraft operating lessors and provides us with a strong delivery pipeline into the next decade,” BOC CEO, Steven Townend, said. “We look forward to providing more airline customers with this popular fuel-efficient and technologically advanced aircraft.”

In May, Saudi Arabia’s AviLease ordered 20 B737-8 jets with options for 10 more of the type. Its aim is to be a top 10 aircraft lessor. At press time, it owned and was managing 200 aircraft leased to 48 airlines.

Global Market Insights reports the aircraft leasing market was valued at $187.1 billion in 2024, will be $207.1 billion this year, $354.5 billion in 2030 and $565.1 billion by 2034 – an annual growth rate of 11.8%.

Supply chain unreliability, skilled labor shortages and strict production workflows have extended lead times for new aircraft resulting in airlines increasingly turning to leasing to meet short to medium-term capacity to fill the gap between supply and demand.

Its bumper business for lessors. Avolon, which had an owned, managed and committed fleet of 1,166 aircraft at June 30, reported net income of $143 million for the 2025 second quarter, up 36% year-on-year. It also raised $2.2 billion in new unsecured bank facilities in the three months.

“We continued our strong financial performance in the second quarter, delivering $143 million in net income,” Avolon CEO, Andy Cronin, said. “The momentum in our performance has been reflected in ratings upgrades with the agencies recognising our growing profitability, balance sheet strength and high levels of liquidity that fundamentally underpin our business.”

Market leading lessor, Aercap Holdings, with a portfolio of 3,508 aircraft, engines and helicopters that are owned, on order or managed, announced a profit for the three months to June-end of near $1.9 billion. Its profit for the 12 months ending June 30 was $7.6 billion, a 2.37% increase over 2024.

AerCap was awarded approximately $1 billion in an insurance payment by London Commercial Court for aircraft and engines lost in Russia. AerCap CEO, Aengus Kelly, said: “We generated record net income driven by strong operating results and the favorable June court judgment in our insurance case.

“We also announced a new strategic partnership for engine leasing with Air France-KLM that will expand our ability to support LEAP engine operators.

“Global demand for aviation assets remains high as evidenced by our 97% lease extension rate in the second quarter. Based on AerCap’s strong first-half results and positive outlook for the remainder of the year, we have increased our 2025 full-year earnings per share guidance.”

Another leading lessor, SMBC Aviation Capital, has booked a record profit before tax of $563 million for the year to March 31, up 22% against the previous 12 months before exceptional items. Pre-tax profit was $1.2 billion when Russian insurance settlement proceeds of $630 million were included.

SMBC CEO, Peter Barrett, said the very strong results demonstrated the company’s ability to perform through the cycle and deliver for customers and shareholders. “Despite recent volatility, leading airlines continue to turn to SMBC Aviation Capital in even greater numbers. We are strongly positioned to drive profit growth from our strategically timed asset purchases.”

Overall, all the signs indicate aircraft leasing is a business with a more than bright future in the short, medium and long term.