AELF FlightService acquires majority stake in Maleth-Aero

AELF FlightService, the wet-leasing division of Puerto Rico-based lessor AELF – Aircraft Engine Lease Finance, has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Maleth-Aero (DB, Malta Int’l). The firm said that it “led the acquisition by a group that includes its shareholder and key European partners”, without disclosing the ownership structure’s actual make-up. “Our integration with Maleth-Aero allows us to directly serve not only our ACMI/charter customers but also our dry lease airline customers with a unique and versatile product offering. Since the acquisition, our focus has been on sourcing aircraft in line with our measured growth plan, which looks to add additional Airbus A330 aircraft to the certificate,” Chief Operating Officer Joe Cirillo said. AELF FlightService does not have its own Air Operator’s Certificate. In 2019, it started proferring the first A330-200, 9H-MFS (msn 700), to the market using Maleth-Aero’s AOC. The aircraft has been wet-leased to Ukraine’s Windrose Airlines (7W, Kyiv Boryspil) and operates cargo-only flights between Kyiv Boryspil and New York JFK (and occasionally Seoul Incheon and Hong Kong Int’l) under Maleth-Aero’s code, due to Windrose Airlines’ lack of a Foreign Air Carrier Permit in the US. However, this may change as the Ukrainian carrier was granted an exemption by the US Department of Transportation on January 8, 2021. AELF has a further three A330-200s already placed on Maleth-Aero’s AOC or due to be delivered to the carrier shortly: 9H-BFS (msn 472), N478DM (msn 466), and F-WWCB (msn 871). “We are available for widebody operations in auxiliary cargo- for PPE and cargo for sensitive supply chains- or passenger configuration, and this will remain our model, offering maximum flexibility in these changing times,” AELF FlightService’s Commercial Director Lee Jones explained. AELF is in the process of rebranding and consolidating all of its dry- and wet-leasing activities, including those of sister firm Presidio Aircraft Leasing, under the brand of AELF FlightService. Besides the four A330-200s placed with Maleth-Aero, AELF owns a further five A330-200s (four dry-leased to Air Transat and one without an operator), two A340-300s, one B737-400, three B737-600s, and two B767-300(ER)s. Presidio owns a single B737-400. In turn, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that Maleth-Aero also operates aircraft dry-leased from European Aviation (six A340-600s and one B737-300(QC)), Opel Investments (one B737-300 and two B737-500s), and Frontier Services Group (one B737-300), and owns one E145.