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Overview

CCB Financial Leasing enters into a sale-and-leaseback agreement worth $1.4 billion USD to support Wizz Air Group's acquisition of 11 Airbus A321ceo aircraft

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$1,464,677,734
Commitment Year•2015Country of Activity•HungaryDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•JerseySector•Transport And StorageFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Commitment

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Nov 25, 2015
Start (planned)
Jan 1, 2016
End (planned)
Jan 1, 2017

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

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The project established the lease of 11 Airbus A321ceo aircraft by Wizz Air, which is headquartered at the Laurus Offices, Kőér street 2/A, Building B, 1103, Budapest, Hungary. More detailed locational information can be found at: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/325119606, https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/325119604, https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/325119601

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

  • CCB Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (CCBFL)

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • Wizz Air

Loan description

CCB Financial Leasing enters into a sale-and-leaseback agreement worth $1.4 billion USD to support Wizz Air Group's acquisition of 11 Airbus A321ceo aircraft

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

On November 25, 2015, Hungary's Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, announced that it had signed its first lease agreement with China Construction Bank (CCB) Financial Leasing for 11 Airbus A321ceo aircraft worth $1.4 billion USD. The deal was expected to allow Wizz Air to further increase its passenger numbers, which came to 20 million since 2014. The agreement was in line with the Wizz Air business model of sale/leaseback whereby the company negotiates and contracts directly with Airbus for new aircraft, and then executes a sale/leaseback agreement with a lessor. The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to Wizz Air in 2016-2017.

Staff comments

1. Wizz Air is the largest budget airline in Central and Eastern Europe, operating its fleet of aircraft from 16 bases with more than 270 routes connecting 93 destinations across 32 countries. 2. AidData assumes that the November 25, 2015 agreement was a capital lease agreement. 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.