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Overview

Bank of China provides RMB 2.75 billion loan to British Airways for acquisition of two Airbus A380 aircraft

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$457,737,686
Commitment Year•2015Country of Activity•United KingdomDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•United KingdomOverseas Jurisdiction•United KingdomSector•Transport And StorageFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Implementation

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Feb 1, 2015
Start (actual)
Mar 1, 2015
End (planned)
Dec 1, 2015
Last repayment (originally scheduled)
Jan 29, 2027

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

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Stakeholders

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

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% host country ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • British Airways PLC (BA)

Security / collateral agents

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Loan description

Bank of China provides RMB 2.75 billion loan to British Airways for acquisition of two Airbus A380 aircraft

Interest type•UnknownMaturity•12 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In February 2015, the London Branch of Bank of China (BOC) issued a RMB 2.75 billion ($406 million USD) loan to British Airways PLC (BA) — the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom and wholly-owned subsidiary of International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., popularly known as International Airlines Group (IAG), a British-Spanish multinational airline holding company incorporated in Spain, headquartered in London, the United Kingdom, and listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Madrid Stock Exchange that owns Iberia and British Airways plc — to support its acquisition of two Airbus A380 Superjumbo aircraft. BOC acted as the sole lender, agent, and security trustee. The loan carried a maturity period of 12 years. The first A380 was handed over in March 2015, and the other was set for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2015. BOC also entered into a currency swap agreement to support the acquisition. This entire deal was described as the first offshore yuan-dominated loan in the industry.

Staff comments

1. AidData has coded this transaction as a collateralized loan because Bank of China acted as the security trustee (i.e. collateral agent) for the loan. When lenders take collateral as security for their loans, a collateral agent/security trustee is often appointed to enforce rights against the collateral in the event of the borrower's default under the loan.