Air Berlin to sell 11 planes to Minsheng to reduce debt
The newly established Minsheng Commercial Aviation Limited and airberlin signed a package deal for eleven aircraft - covering used and new narrowbody aircraft, all equipped with CFM engines.
This transaction consists of two parts: Sale-and-lease-back of five used Airbus A320 family aircraft owned by airberlin and two new deliveries in 2014 of one new Airbus A320 family aircraft with sharklets and one new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. In addition, Minsheng will have an option to buy four Boeings 737 from airberlin and place them into the Chinese market.
The execution of the transactions will be completed in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
Johnny Lau, CEO Minsheng Commercial Aviation Limited proclaimed: As Minsheng Leasing is moving into the commercial aviation market, we are very grateful to support airberlin aircraft financing programme. With airberlin as our first international customer, MSCA will continue to add other reputable airlines into our client list.
Ulf Hüttmeyer, CFO airberlin, commented: We are pleased to announce this important transaction for airberlin which is further enhancing airberlin's financing portfolio by expanding our footprint within the Chinese financial market. This transaction supports the management of our net debt position and our fleet alignment activities also in relation to our turnaround program Turbine. We are looking forward to a trustful and long lasting relationship between the two companies.