Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In July 2018, CDB Aviation Lease Finance DAC — the wholly-owned Ireland-based subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Limited (CDB Leasing) — entered into an operating lease agreement with Nordwind Airlines, LLC — a Russian leisure airline headquartered in Moscow — for three new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The aircraft were to be operated on Nordwind's domestic routes. The first aircraft was delivered to Nordwind on July 28, 2018 under registration VP-BSQ. The second was delivered on August 1, 2018. The third aircraft was scheduled towards the end of August 2018. Financial close on the lease was reached on August 29, 2018. As a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the accompanying sanctions, many leased aircraft fell into default and lessors sought to repossess their aircraft. While in some cases, the Russian Government obstructed return of aircraft, some Russian airliners returned aircraft. As of March 21, 2022, CDB Aviation had repossessed four aircraft from Russia. Nordwind Airlines was one of the airliners to return aircraft. CDB Aviation repossessed all three of Boeing 737-800s from Nordwind in 2022. In July 2022, CDB Aviation Lease Finance entered into a lease agreement with Touristic Aviation Services Ltd. — a Luqa, Malta-headquartered European charter airline trading as Corendon Airlines Europe and subsidiary of the Turkey-based Corendon Airlines Group — for the one of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft that had been previously leased to Nordwind Airlines. In December 2022, CDB Aviation Lease Finance entered into an operating lease agreement with Neos S.p.A. — an Italian airline, headquartered in Somma Lombardo, Lombardy — for the other two Boeing 738-800 aircraft that had been previously to Nordwind Airlines.
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. In aviation finance, financial close typically occurs on or around the delivery date of the final aircraft. As the third and final aircraft was expected, in early August 2018, to be delivered towards the end of August 2018 and financial close occurred on August 29, 2018, the aircraft was almost certainly delivered on or around that date. Thus AidData has coded the actual_implementation_completion_date field as August 29, 2018 and marked the actual_implementation_completion_date_estimated? field as True.