Kevin O'Toole/LONDON
BRITISH AEROSPACE'S jet-aircraft leasing arm has announced the sale of another three ex-Swissair Fokker 100s, and says that it plans to take advantage of the market upturn to begin selling down more of its fleet of BAe 146 regional jets.
BAe Asset Management-Jets (AMJ), as the leasing business has been renamed, took on ten Fokker 100s as part of the deal to sell new Avro RJs to Swissair.
Two of the aircraft were sold at the end of January, but Fokker's subsequent bankruptcy raised fears over the prospect for further sales, admits AMJ general manager Andrew Davies. He adds that it has now become clear that the bankruptcy has had little effect.
The latest sale is to Alpi Eagles, a new entrant in Italy's liberalised regional-airline sector. The first aircraft has already entered service, being flown on routes from the prosperous north-east of the country and Rome.
Davies argues that the sales are evidence of AMJ's increasing success in selling aircraft. "We're pretty aggressive, and we're going to take advantage of the hardening in the market," he says.
AMJ is also looking to realise cash on some of the 106-strong fleet of BAe 146s, all which are now in service. A handful has already been sold, including one to Manx Airlines earlier this year.
Davies believes that, with firmer lease rates and longer-term commitments of five years or more, the economics of purchasing over leasing begin to become persuasive.
The second prong of the strategy is to move aircraft away from smaller start-up carriers, which Davies says is designed to create a stronger, more secure, lease portfolio going into the next downturn. AMJ acknowledges that aircraft are unlikely to sit in the fleets of the major carriers, but has been increasing its presence within the regional affiliates which come under their umbrella.
The company has just announced the lease of five aircraft to Qantas to serve with the carrier's regional subsidiaries, Airlink and Southern Australia Airlines. Aer Lingus also took its fourth BAe 146-300 in June.
The stability of the fleet now means that AMJ has only around five or six aircraft a year coming back off lease, although Davies expects to play an as-yet-undefined role in managing new RJ aircraft as they come off lease.
He gives the example of another eight BAe 146s due to come back from Sabena at the start of 1997 as the carrier, like its partner Swissair, standardises on RJs.
Source: Flight International
