Brazilian carrier Gol is ready to begin a fleet renewal and gradual expansion fresh off of its multi-year reorganisation.
The airline announced a lease deal for 12 Boeing 737s, including 10 737 Max 8s and two 737-800s, with GECAS as part of this last week. The transaction includes sale-and-leasebacks of five 737-8s from Gol's orderbook and two 737-800s in its fleet already, and direct leases for five 737-8s from the lessor's orderbook.
"This deal will accelerate the swap to the new technology," says Celso Ferrer, vice-president of planning at Gol, in an interview with FlightGlobal. "With all the restructuring that we had, we stopped receiving aircraft for a while, and now we're lucky that the next [aircraft] will be on the new technology."
The carrier has not added a new aircraft to its fleet since 2016 as part of the reorganisation that began the year before, the Flight Fleets Analyzer shows. It will take its next delivery – the first of five 737-8s under a SLB with AWAS – in 2018.
Gol shrank its fleet from a peak of 145 aircraft, including 37 737-700s and 108 737-800s, in 2015 to a target 115 at the end of this year, the database and its latest fleet plan shows.
The GECAS deal does not change Gol's disciplined approach to fleet growth. It maintains a target of 121 aircraft at the end of 2018, 124 in 2019 and 128 in 2020, Ferrer says.
While the transaction adds one additional 737-8 delivery in 2018, bringing the total to six, the aircraft will replace an outgoing 737NG, he says.
EX-IM ALTERNATIVE
Gol, like other carriers, looked to the SLB market as an alternative to export credit. The US Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) has effectively been closed since June 2015 due at first to the lapse in its charter and then to the lack of a board quorum, and European export credit agencies have stopped supporting Airbus deals since mid-2016 due to an UK investigation into potential "irregularities".
As an all-Boeing operator, the closure of Ex-Im impacts Gol directly. The airline had previously used the export credit agency to finance aircraft, engines and maintenance, including a nearly $41 million guaranteed bond to finance engine maintenance by Delta TechOps in 2014.
Ferrer says that, while the airline continues to evaluate all of its financing options, the SLB market provides Gol with a good alternative to Ex-Im that supports its current fleet plan.
In addition, GECAS' ability to couple SLBs with direct leases was a critical sweetener, he adds.
"The combination to do the direct operating lease was a way to accelerate the new technology," says Ferrer, who repeatedly emphasises Gol's plan shift to the the more efficient 737 Max from the 737NG.
Gol will finance all of the deliveries from its own orderbook with SLBs in 2018 and the majority in 2019 with the GECAS deal. It does not specify how many deliveries from 2019 to 2021 are covered by the transaction.
The carrier is scheduled to take 12 737-8s in 2019, 12 in 2020 and five in 2021, Fleets Analyzer shows. This includes three directly from GECAS in 2019 and one in 2020.
Gol is reducing the number of Ex-Im financed aircraft in its fleet, which stood at 40 at the beginning of 2016, says Ferrer. The two 737-800s sold to GECAS were financed with guarantees from the lender, bringing the number of such aircraft that it has sold since its restructuring began to 11.
The 737NG SLBs enable the airline to accelerate their retirement and replacement with 737-8s in the early 2020s, he says.
UPGAUGE OPPORTUNITIES
Gol has firm orders and leases for 74 737-8s, including the GECAS aircraft, Fleets Analyzer shows. These will join its 737NGs offering the airline improved efficiency and fuel burn, as well as slight upgauging opportunities where they replace the older models.
The carrier will configure its 737-8s with 186 seats compared to 177 seats on its 737-800s and 138 seats on its 737-700s.
Gol plans to use the aircraft to "diversify" its Brazilian network and potentially add longer routes to northern South America and the southern USA, says Ferrer. It lists the range of the 737-8 as 3,515nm (6,510km) versus 2,937nm for its 737-800s.
One thing Gol is not immediately considering is an order for the larger 737 Max 9 or Max 10.
"Our model is really simple, we try to have a better operation efficiency compared to our peers. It's the same family but it adds complexity – we need to be cautious and consider this in any fleet study that we do," says Ferrer on whether it is considering the larger 737s.
However, he notes that the 737-10, which was only officially launched at the Paris air show in June, could be a possibility for Gol down the road.
"The Max 10 seems to be a good candidate for some routes in slotted airports, but we need to weigh the costs and advantages," says Ferrer.
Gol's fleet will consist of 737-700s, 737-800s and 737-8s for the foreseeable future. While the -800s will remain its primary aircraft and Max 8s to add capacity where needed and open new markets, the -700s are likely to be used on thinner routes and to regional destinations in Brazil, especially as the country's economy recovers, says Ferrer.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
