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Overview

ICBC Leasing enters into a sale-and-leaseback agreement with Air Berlin for one Airbus A320 aircraft for NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH

Commitment Year•2013Country of Activity•AustriaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•GermanySector•Transport And StorageFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Mar 25, 2013
Start (actual)
Mar 25, 2013
End (actual)
Mar 25, 2013

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Funding agencies

State-owned companies

  • ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (ICBCFL) (ICBC Leasing)

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG
  • NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH

Loan description

ICBC Leasing enters into a sale-and-leaseback agreement with Air Berlin for one Airbus A320 aircraft for NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

Prior to March 25, 2013, ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (ICBCFL) — a Chinese state-owned leasing company and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into an sale-and-leaseback agreement with Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG — a German airline, Germany's second largest, headquartered in Berlin — for one Airbus 320 aircraft. The aircraft with serial number MSN 5522 was equipped with fuel-saving Sharklets. The aircraft was intended for NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH, Air Berlin's Austria-based low-cost subsidiary. The aircraft was delivered on March 25, 2013 under registration OE-LER. On November 20, 2014, the aircraft was re-registered with Air Berlin with registration D-ABNJ. On August 15, 2017, Air Berlin filed for insolvency after its key shareholder Etihad Airways announced it would no longer support the airliner after years of losses On October 27, 2017, the aircraft ceased operations with Air Berlin. The aircraft was placed into storage in Kaunas, Lithuania in November 2017 by ICBC Leasing after Air Berlin ceased operations. ICBC entered into a lease agreement with EasyJet Europe Airline GmbH at the end of February 2018 (Record ID#102227). Then, on June 14, 2018, ICBC Leasing delivered the aircraft on lease to EasyJet Europe.

Staff comments

1. A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee (user) to pay the lessor (owner) for use of an asset. The lessor is the legal owner of the asset, while the lessee obtains the right to use the asset in return for regular rental payments. Under a capital lease (a financial arrangement where the lessee/borrower uses an asset and pays regular installments plus interest to the lender/lessor), rental payments are usually classified as interest and obligation payments, similarly to a mortgage (with the interest calculated each rental period on the outstanding obligation balance). AidData codes capital leases as loans. 2. Sale and leaseback (or sale-leaseback) agreements are generally considered to be off-balance-sheet hybrid debt products.