Canadian regional aircraft lessor Chorus Aviation Capital has signed an agreement to purchase five new Airbus A220-300s from Latvian carrier Air Baltic, which will operate the aircraft under leases.
Canadian regional aircraft lessor Chorus Aviation Capital has signed an agreement to purchase five new Airbus A220-300s from Latvian carrier Air Baltic, which will operate the aircraft under leases.
The pending acquisition by Halifax-based Chorus Aviation Capital brings another aircraft type and another leasing customer into its expanding portfolio.
The deal, a sale-and-leaseback arrangement, calls for Chorus to acquire two of the new A220s in the fourth quarter and the remaining three by the end of the third quarter of 2020.
The aircraft are on order with Airbus by Air Baltic, which will transfer ownership to Chorus Aviation Capital but keep the aircraft under leases.
The agreement expands the relationship between the companies. Chorus already helps maintain Air Baltic’s De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Q400 turboprops.
Air Baltic is a new lease customer for Chorus Aviation Capital. The leaser’s portfolio will stand at 60 aircraft when accounting for the Air Baltic deal and other pending agreements, but excluding a separate leasing agreement with Air Canada, says Chorus.
Those 60 leased aircraft will include 43 turboprops and 17 regional jets. Other types in the fleet are Bombardier CRJ900s, CRJ1000s, Q400s, ATR 72-600s and Embraer 190s and E195s, according to Chorus’ third quarter earnings report.
Parent Chorus formed Chorus Aviation Capital in January 2017 as a means to diversify its business by capitalising on demand for leased regional aircraft.
At the time, Chorus had recently signed a new capacity purchase agreement laying out terms between its airline subsidiary Jazz and Jazz’s partner Air Canada. That deal called for Air Canada to significantly reduce payments to Jazz.
