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Airbus announces first A350 freighter commitment as part of huge Air Lease Corporation order
November 16th 2021
Air Lease Corporation (ALC) has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for 111 jets that includes the lessor as the first announced buyer of the A350F cargo jet. Read More » The big order runs the gamut of the European manufacturer’s aircraft families: 25 A220-300s, 55 A321neos, 20 A321XLRs, four A330neos and seven A350Fs. The parties to the LoI expect the deal to be finalised in coming months, making Los Angeles-based ALC one of the OEM’s biggest customers and the lessor with the largest A220 order book. “ALC was the launch customer for the very popular A321LR and XLR versions,’’ said ALC executive chairman, Steven Udvar-Hazy. “Now, we become the launch lessor for the A350F and by far the largest lessor customer for the A220. We had the vision to be first adopters of the A321 and are convinced we have made the right choice again on the A220 and A350F by responding to what we see the market will need in the period of recovery ahead.” Udvar-Hazy described the order announcement as the culmination of many months of hard work by both organisations. The aim is to optimise the scope of the transaction in view of the rapidly growing demand from airlines to modernise their fleets, he said. “After lengthy and detailed consultations with several dozen of our strategic airline customers around the world, we are focusing this comprehensive order on the most desirable and in demand aircraft types, covering the A220, A321neo, A330neo and A350 families,’’ he said. Airbus chief commercial officer, Christian Scherer, said the ALC order signalled the industry was moving beyond the COVID-19 doldrums and that ALC had seen the “formidable value” the A350F brings to the cargo market. “ALC’s endorsement confirms the global enthusiasm we see for this quantum leap in the freighter space. We applaud its insightfulness in selecting it and in beating everyone to the finish line for the first A350F order announcement,” he said. Airbus and ALC also are launching a multi-million-dollar fund to foster decarbonisation in the industry by investing in sustainable aviation development projects. They intend to open the fund to other stakeholders from the aircraft leasing and financing community. Yesterday’s announcement marks the second big Airbus order at the Dubai Airshow. On Sunday, Indigo Partners committed for 255 A321neo family aircraft.
