easyJet raises $400mn through sale/lease-backs

easyJet (U2, London Luton) has raised USD398.6 million through sale/lease-back agreements covering nine aircraft sold to two lessors. The British low-cost carrier said in a stock market filing that the first transaction was executed with Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Limited and covers four A320 Family aircraft, netting USD191.1 million, against an aircraft net book value at the time of the sale of USD116.2 million. The name of the trust does not allow for the specific lessor to be identified as it is used by multiple entities. The other transaction was with Sky High 112 Leasing Company Limited, a trust for aircraft owned by ICBC Financial Leasing, and covers five A320s for a total consideration of USD207.5 million against an aircraft net book value of USD140.2 million. easyJet said the aircraft would be leased back for an average period of 116-117 months and would create an additional annual net cost of around GBP15 million pounds (USD19.4 million). “Once these two transactions are completed, easyJet will retain 152 fully owned and unencumbered aircraft, representing approximately 44% of the fleet,” the airline said. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, easyJet operates a total of 111 A319-100s, 167 A320-200s, thirty-seven A320-200Ns, and fourteen A321-200NX. The fleet is wholly operated by subsidiaries easyJet Europe (EC, Vienna), easyJet Switzerland (DS, Geneva), and easyJet UK (U2, London Luton). Meanwhile, in a statement distributed to German media, easyJet admitted that it would reduce the number of aircraft based out of Berlin from 34 to 18 starting in December 2020. It reached an agreement with staff to reduce the number of positions in the German capital from around 1,500 today by 418, against easyJet’s earlier plan to trim its Berlin workforce by 738. The 320 staff who will not be laid-off will, however, be placed under a short-time work regime through June 30, 2021.