Aircraft leasing company SMBC Aviation Capital has placed an order for 65 more Airbus A320neo, bringing its total order numbers for the aircraft type to 181.
The firm purchase agreement, worth more than US $7 billion according to list prices, was signed in December and therefore falls under Airbus’ 2018 order and delivery statistics. It also includes a conversion of 15 A320neo (new engine option) to the larger A321neo. In March 2018, SMBC had already placed a separate order for six Airbus A320neo.
SMBC Aviation Capital is owned by a consortium of several Japanese companies from the finance sector, including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), but is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
The company currently manages a fleet of more than 400 aircraft, which it leases to numerous worldwide customers. Examples include United Airlines, British Airways, KLM, Avianca and Qantas.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
