United Airlines currently operates a fleet of 104 Boeing 737 MAX 9s with an average age of three years. The airline expects delivery of another 116 units in the future. Of these incoming planes, the latest agreement covers ten that will be sold to DAE before being leased back by United. This arrangement allows United to access cash from the sale while keeping the planes off its balance sheet as fixed assets.
Firoz Tarapore, Chief Executive Officer of DAE, commented on the transaction: “We are delighted to continue building on our valued relationship with United. Today’s announcement of the purchase-lease back agreement of 10 Boeing 737-9 aircraft follows our recent acquisition of an Airbus A321neo on lease to United, and reflects our continued commitment to the North American market. We congratulate United on their continued success and look forward to further strengthening our partnership in the years ahead.”
This deal comes six months after DAE acquired all shares in Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC), increasing its total fleet size and marking further consolidation within the aircraft leasing sector. As reported by DAE, NAC had around 252 owned and committed aircraft leased to approximately sixty airlines across forty countries as of September 2024.
Following this $2 billion acquisition, DAE's combined portfolio now consists of roughly $22 billion worth of Airbus, Boeing, ATR, and Embraer models under ownership or management.
DAE has been expanding its portfolio through several transactions in recent years. In August 2024 alone it purchased twenty-three aircraft for about $1.1 billion; throughout that year it acquired eighty-three planes while selling sixty-eight others and signed over two hundred lease agreements or extensions—including long-term leases for Turkish Airlines, Eastar Jet, and Hainan Airlines.
Industry consolidation continues among global lessors as well. For example, AviLease—owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—acquired Standard Chartered’s aviation leasing business for $3.6 billion in August 2023 https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/saudi-arabias-avilease-buy-standard-chartered-leasing-business-36-bln-2023-08-01/. Another major merger occurred when SMBC Aviation Capital completed its acquisition of Goshawk Management in December 2022 https://www.smbc.aero/newsroom/smbc-aviation-capital-completes-acquisition-of-goshawk-management-ltd/, creating one of the world’s largest players by number of managed aircraft.
In November 2021 AerCap finalized its purchase of GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), which expanded AerCap’s portfolio beyond two thousand airplanes https://www.aercap.com/media/news-releases/press-release-details/2021/AerCap-Holdings-N.V.-Announces-Closing-of-GECAS-Acquisition/default.aspx.
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