Chinese airlines are rushing to refinance their fleets as they struggle with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the head of Avolon, one of the world’s largest aviation leasing companies.
“When the airline industry is impacted, it tends to move quickly to preserve cash. That is what we are seeing here. The phones have started ringing. We’ve seen a dramatic step up of airlines reaching out to do sale and lease back transactions,” said Domhnal Slattery, chief executive of the Dublin-based company.
Mr Slattery was speaking on Wednesday after the company posted $718m in net profit for 2019, up marginally from $717m in the previous year and a record for the 10-year old business.