Boullioun Aviation Services has strengthened its claim on the number three spot among operating lessors by placing an order worth up to US$2.6 billion for new-generation Boeing 737s. With new financing for its subsidiary, Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE), Boullioun continues to show its determination to keep growing despite the caution exhibited by other lessors.
Boullioun's new order is for 30 B737-700s with options on another 30. Boeing convinced Boullioun just before signing to raise the number of options from 10 to 30. Under its contract, Boullioun can switch any of these orders or options to any other version of Boeing's new-generation 737.
'We look forward to building on our earlier success,' says Robert Genise, Boullioun's CEO, who predicts that within five years, 'the Boullioun/Sale portfolio will likely be number three in the industry.'
Genise hinted earlier that Boullioun might supplement its current 737 fleet with Airbus A320s, but elected to keep the present division between its all-Boeing fleet of narrowbodies and the all-Airbus narrowbodies offered by SALE. SALE's portfolio includes one 737 it acquired from Boullioun.
Other lessors have been slow to order aircraft until they foresee an end to Asia's downturn. But even with this new order, Boullioun will have no more deliveries for nearly three years. The last 737 under its prior order arrived in July and Boullioun does not expect to see its first jet under the new order until 2001.
In the interim, there could be growth through sale-leasebacks. The US$98 million loan for SALE was to finance a B777-200 it bought and leased back to Malaysia Airlines.
Source: Airline Business
