JetBlue Airways favours private bank financing for the seven Airbus A320 family aircraft it has scheduled for delivery this year.
The New York-based low-cost carrier is considering private bank financing alongside enhanced equipment trust certificate (EETC) debt and cash for its 2013 aircraft deliveries, says Mark Powers, chief financial officer of JetBlue, on the sidelines of an A320 sharklet event in New York on 21 February.
JetBlue's base case is to pay for the aircraft with cash subject to it receiving "good rates and terms" from lenders, he adds.
"The private market banks, like DVB, they're pricing is inside whatever we could do in the EETC just because of the fees," says Powers. BNP Paribas and DVB have provided JetBlue with aircraft debt previously.
The airline could achieve competitive rates in the EETC markets if it chose the route, say market participants.
JetBlue is scheduled to receive three A320s, four A321s and seven Embraer 190s this year, according to Flightglobal's Ascend Online database.
Powers says that the Embraer deliveries will be financed with export credit debt from Brazilian development bank BNDES.
JetBlue anticipates $360 million in aircraft-related capital expenditures this year, according to a stock exchange filing on 21 February. It prepaid $200 million for its 2013 aircraft deliveries in 2012.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
