BOC Aviation Sees Demand for Older Airbus, Boeing Models Rising

(Bloomberg) -- Demand for older variants of Airbus SE and Boeing Co. jets has picked up in the past three to four months, as the industry’s pace of growth exceeded expectations, one of Asia’s biggest plane leasing companies said.

“Part of this is because growth in the industry is higher than what was originally expected,” Robert Martin, Chief Executive Officer of BOC Aviation Ltd. said in an interview at the Singapore Airshow, “Because of this, people want near-term aircraft deliveries.”

Airbus’ A320 and Boeing’s 737 family of aircraft form the backbone of modern commercial aviation, with most short-haul routes being covered by those jets. The A320neo and the 737Max are the latest variants in that family, but those are sold out in the near-term, Martin said.

BOC Aviation, the aircraft-leasing unit of Bank of China, owned 287 aircraft at the end of December, and had another 173 on order, according to its website. Its customers in Asia Pacific include Air China Ltd., Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., PT Garuda Indonesia, Qantas Airways Ltd. and IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.

--With assistance from Kyunghee Park and Karolina Miziolek

To contact the reporters on this story: Anurag Kotoky in New Delhi at akotoky@bloomberg.net, Juliette Saly in Singapore at jsaly1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandk@bloomberg.net, Sam Nagarajan

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