Wizz Air, the largest low-cost, low-fare airline in Central and Eastern Europe, announced today that it had entered into a sale and leaseback agreement with Goshawk Aviation Limited (‘Goshawk’) for seven new Airbus A320 aircraft. The airplanes are planned for delivery between November 2014 and June 2015. This is the first financing deal between the two parties.
Goshawk is an aircraft leasing vehicle managed by Investec Bank plc with capital from Investec and Asian institutional partners. With the Wizz Air transaction, Goshawk has over 30 aircraft either delivered or scheduled to be delivered over the next 12-15 months.
Mike Powell, Chief Financial Officer of Wizz Air, said: “We continue to secure our future growth by adding new Airbus A320 aircraft to our fleet. I am pleased with the confidence that Goshawk has in our current business and future growth plan. We will continue to serve people in well over 30 countries with our very low fares and the 7 new aircraft for which we have secured financing, will play an important role in this mission.”
Ramki Sundaram, Head of Aviation Finance of Investec Bank, said: “We are delighted to be working with Wizz Air and look forward to a fruitful relationship with the management team going forward. This is an exciting stage of development for Goshawk and adding a customer of the calibre of Wizz Air will only enhance the quality of the portfolio we are building.”