Air France closes two B777F sale/lease-backs

Air France (AF, Paris CDG) has sold and leased back two B777-200Fs from Apollo Global Management and Merx Aviation Finance, the two financial firms announced in a statement. The transaction covers F-GUOB (msn 32965) and F-GUOC (msn 32966), the only two B777 freighters in Air France’s fleet. Both Boeing aircraft are 2009 builds and are also the carrier’s last remaining dedicated freighters. The parties did not disclose the value of the transaction. The aircraft are now owned by an Apollo Global Management fund and managed by Merx Aviation Finance. According to the ch-aviation fleets ownership module, Air France has a nearly 50/50 split of owned and leased aircraft. It had not leased any units from Apollo or Merx before this transaction. Merx Aviation Finance already owns a single B777-200F, namely D-AALI (msn 37708), placed with Germany’s AeroLogic (3S, Leipzig/Halle).