Willis Lease Finance seeks 30 unencumbered turboprops

Willis Lease Finance has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) concerning its planned acquisition of 30 unencumbered, off-lease turboprops – DHC-8-Q400s, ATR42-500s, or ATR72-500s. The Florida-based lessor and services provider focused on leasing engines said that it would expect the aircraft to deliver by the end of the second quarter of 2021. However, preferably it would receive them already by the end of January 2021. The lessor prefers offers for airframes only, although airframes with engines are also acceptable. The aircraft would preferably, although not necessarily, be younger than 20 years of age and have more than two years remaining until the next heavy maintenance check. Willis Lease Finance said that it would favour bids for aircraft with unserviceable engines. Bidders have until December 18, 2020, to submit their offers to the lessor. Every offer must include asking price by aircraft, airframe and engine specifications, maintenance information, and other documents. Willis Lease Finance said that it would consider a variety of factors when making a choice, including the price, technical specifications, delivery timeline, and asset count and composition from a particular seller. According to the ch-aviation fleets ownership module, Willis Lease Finance currently owns 17 jet aircraft: ten A319-100s, three B737-600s, two B737-700s, and two B737-800s. The Boeing narrowbodies are parked, while nine out of the ten A319s are leased to easyJet UK and easyJet Europe. The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that there are currently 55 ATR42-500s stored around the world. The largest owners of stored units of the type are Elix Aviation Capital, Nordic Aviation Capital (six each), Aeromar Airlines, First Air (four each), Tarom, TAME Ecuador, and PIA – Pakistan International Airlines (three each). In turn, out of 154 stored ATR72-500s, seventeen are owned by Nordic Aviation Capital, twelve by Air Algérie, and seven by Cebu Pacific Air. The global fleet of grounded DHC8-Q400s also numbers 154. The largest owners of the parked De Havilland Aircraft of Canada turboprops are Nordic Aviation Capital (52 aircraft), Porter Aircraft Leasing (21), Nord/LB (20), and Chorus Aviation/Chorus Aviation Capital (13).