Avation PLC (LON:AVAP), the commercial passenger aircraft leasing company, has announced that it has successfully delivered its last remaining off-lease ATR 72-600 aircraft to PNG Air Limited for a 72-month lease at a market lease rate. Avation’s fleet of 34 aircraft is now fully utilised for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
PNG Air operates a substantial route network in Papua New Guinea connecting more than 20 locations on PNG’s largest domestic network. PNG Air operates a mixed fleet of ATR 72-600 72-seater aircraft and the Dash 8-100 series 36 seaters plus a Dash 8 freighter. The airline has orders in place with ATR and over the next five years will phase out the older Dash 8 aircraft and replace them with ATR 72 aircraft.
Avation’s Executive Chairman, Jeff Chatfield said: “We are pleased to add PNG Air as a new customer. We have achieved 100% fleet utilisation with no further COVID-19 era grounded aircraft on commencement of this lease. Clearing the backlog of off-lease aircraft is a major milestone for the company and we may now look to the future with confidence in the knowledge that our current fleet is fully employed. The Company no longer has storage and rectification costs as a consequence from the transition of aircraft associated with the COVID-19 era. Consequently the Company can now adjust its activities to continue to repurchase bonds opportunistically in order to lower levels of overall Company debt, consider share repurchases when applicable and put in place an organic growth pathway from our new generation low CO2 ATR orderbook.”
