AerCap Holdings N.V. is an American-Irish aviation leasing company headquartered in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, with offices around the world. AerCap is listed on the NYSE with the ticker 'AER'. It became the largest aviation leasing company in the world following the acquisition of

ILFC The International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) was an aircraft lessor headquartered in the Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles, California, US. It was the world's largest aircraft lessor by value, though ILFC's rival, General ...

in 2014, and

GECAS GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) was an Irish–American commercial aviation financing and leasing company. AerCap acquired the company from GE Capital on November 1, 2021. GECAS was the largest commercial airline leasing/financing company i ...

from GE in 2021, for over $30 billion. Its assets include 1,486 owned

narrow-body aircraft A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width. In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with m ...

and

wide-body aircraft A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as a jumbo jet, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is ...

as of the end of Q3 2023, as well as

cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft generally feature one or more large door ...

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

regional jet A regional jet (RJ) is a jet airliner, jet-powered regional airliner usually defined by having fewer than 100 seats. The first aircraft considered part of this category was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by Douglas DC-9, BAC O ...

s, and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s. Following the closing of the

transaction

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

owned 45.4% of the company, but, after a series of secondary market sales in March and September 2023, sold its final stake in November 2023. The company is now fully owned by public shareholders, the largest of which was

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

with 21 million shares at the end of September 2023.

Business

Portfolio

As of 31 December 2022, it had 3,532 aircraft, engines and helicopters owned, on order or managed, including 1,572 owned aircraft, 187 managed aircraft, 435 new aircraft on order, with a weighted average age of 7.2 years, and over 900 owned and managed aircraft engines, primarily manufactured by

and

CFM International CFM International is a Franco-American aircraft engine manufacturer. The company is a joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly known as Snecma) and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1974 to bu ...

. Through Milestone Aviation Group, its

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

, it owns 325 helicopters. The company is one of the largest purchasers of aircraft from

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

, and

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation. It develops and manufactures aircraft and aviation systems, and provides leasing, equipment, and technical support services. Embraer is the third largest producer of civil air ...

and one of the largest purchasers of aircraft engines from

GE Aviation General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, is an American aircraft engine supplier that is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. It is the legal successor to the original General Electric Company founded in 1892, wh ...

, International Aero Engines,

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

, and

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. They are also the only publicly known non-Chinese entity to have ordered the

COMAC C919 The Comac C919 is a narrow-body airliner developed by Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac. The development program was launched in 2008. Production began in December 2011, with the first prototype being rolled out on 2 November 2015; the m ...

though without known delivery dates.

Customers

In 2022, its largest customers based on percentage of revenue were

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

(6.3% of 2022 revenues),

China Southern Airlines China Southern Airlines (branded as China Southern) is a major airline in China, headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Eastern Airlines. Established on 1 ...

(4.7% of 2022 revenues),

Azul Brazilian Airlines Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S/A (''Azul Brazilian Airlines''; or simply Azul) is a Brazilian airline headquartered in Barueri, a suburb of São Paulo. The company's business model is to stimulate demand by providing frequent and affordable ...

(4.2% of 2022 revenues),

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

(3.0% of 2022 revenues), and

Ethiopian Airlines Ethiopian Airlines (), formerly ''Ethiopian Air Lines'' (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by the country's government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to intern ...

(2.4% of 2022 revenues). The company leases aircraft primarily via

operating lease The expression "operating lease" is somewhat confusing as it has a different meaning based on the context that is under consideration. From a product characteristic standpoint, this type of a lease, as distinguished from a finance lease, is one wh ...

s under which the lessee is responsible for the maintenance and servicing of the equipment during the lease term and the company receives the

residual value Residual value also known as salvage value describes the future value of a good in terms of absolute value in monetary terms after depreciation, and it is sometimes abbreviated into a percentage of the initial price when the item was new. It is one ...

of the equipment at the end of the lease. The company serves over 300 customers in 80 countries. Its helicopters are leased to companies including

CHC Helicopter CHC Helicopter is a Texas-based helicopter services company. CHC Helicopter maintains its global headquarters in Irving, Texas and operates more than 250 aircraft in 30 countries around the world. CHC's major international operating units are ...

Bristow Helicopters Bristow Helicopters Limited is a British civil helicopter operator originally based at Aberdeen Airport, Scotland, which is currently a part of the U.S.-based Bristow Group () which in turn has its corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas, U.S ...

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- l ...

, and

Babcock International Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

. The company's cargo division serves customers including

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

Maersk (), usually known simply as Maersk ( ), is a Danish Freight transport, shipping and logistics company founded in 1904 by Arnold Peter Møller and his father Peter Mærsk Møller. Maersk's business activities include Port operator, port operat ...

, and

ASL Airlines Ireland ASL Airlines Ireland (ASLI), formerly Air Contractors, is a cargo airline with an extensive operations network. It operates scheduled freight services throughout Europe on behalf of major parcel integrators such as Amazon Air, Amazon, FedEx Fee ...

Locations

It has its headquarters in Dublin, and offices in Shannon, London, Dubai, Miami, Singapore, Amsterdam and Shanghai. It also has representative offices near the headquarters of largest aircraft manufacturers:

in Seattle and

in Toulouse.

History

Aercap traces its history to one of the first aircraft leasing companies, Guinness Peat Aviation, founded in 1975 by Tony Ryan. In 1998, it became AERFI after a bailout from

Texas Pacific Group TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. TPG manages investment funds in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm in ...

. In 2000, it was acquired by Debis AirFinance, owned by

Daimler Chrysler Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacturers. Daimler-B ...

, for $750 million. In 2005, Debis AirFinance was acquired by affiliates of

Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American global alternative investment firm with assets across credit, private equity, and real estate strategies.Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Qua ...

, and renamed AerCap. In 2006, the company set up AerVenture, a 50/50

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with LoadAir/Al Fawares. In 2009, after its partners refused to fund a capital contribution, Waha Capital acquired a 50% stake and became partners with AerCap. In November 2006, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

via an initial public offering. In March 2010, the company acquired Genesis Lease at a discount to book value as a result of the financial crisis, following this transaction Paul Dacier and Michael Gradon joined the AerCap board. By 2013, the affiliates of Cerberus sold substantially all of their shares in the company.

2014 ILFC acquisition

In May 2014, the company acquired International Lease Finance Corporation from

American International Group American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of 2023, AIG employed 25,200 people. The company operates through three core ...

(AIG) for $3.0 billion of cash and $4.6 billion in stock. The deal gave AerCap $43 billion in total assets and a fleet of over 1,300 aircraft, making it the largest in the world by fleet value, and second to competitor GE Capital Aviation Services by fleet count. In January 2015, the company moved its assets and headquarters to Ireland. In June 2015, AerCap signed an agreement with Boeing for an order of 100

Boeing 737 MAX 8 The Boeing 737 MAX is a series of narrow-body aircraft developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the fourth generation of the Boeing 737. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation and incorporates more efficient CFM International LEAP eng ...

aircraft with deliveries starting in 2019. In June 2015, AIG sold about 71.2 million shares in a public offering and AerCap purchased an additional 15.7 million of its shares from AIG. In August 2015, AIG completed its departure from the airplane-leasing business with the sale of the additional 10.7 million shares. By the end of 2015, AerCap's portfolio consisted of 1,697 aircraft that were owned, on order, under contract or managed (including aircraft owned by AerDragon, a non-consolidated joint venture). The average age of the owned fleet as of 31 December 2015 was 7.7 years and the average remaining contracted lease term was 5.9 years. In 2015, AerCap leased, purchased and sold 405 aircraft. The company signed lease agreements for 276 aircraft and purchased 46 new aircraft. AerCap executed sale and part-out transactions for 83 aircraft and signed financing transactions for US$7.3 billion. In February 2016, AerCap reported record 2015 financial results and authorized a share repurchase program of $400 million. In 2016, AerCap signed lease agreements for 279 aircraft, purchased 38 and sold 141 aircraft, and signed financing transactions for $4.6 billion; as of 31 December 2016, it has 1,566 owned, managed or on order aircraft in its portfolio. In June 2017, Aercap placed an order for 30 Boeing 787-9s, valued at $8.1 billion at list prices at the Paris Air Show. AerCap announced on 28 December that it exercised options to purchase 50 A320neo Family aircraft to be delivered from 2022, bringing its A320neo Family portfolio to 270 owned and on order. In March 2021, AerCap signed a deal with start-up long-haul, low-cost airline

Norse Atlantic Airways Norse Atlantic Airways Aksjeselskap, AS is a Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost, long-haul airline headquartered in Arendal, Norway. Founded in February 2021, the airline operates a fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft between Europe, North America, ...

, for the lease of six used Boeing 787-9s and three used Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

2021 GECAS acquisition

In March 2021, Aercap announced they had reached a deal to acquire GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) from

for US$24 billion in cash, US$1 billion of AerCap notes and approximately 46% of the combined business in shares. The acquisition was approved by AerCap shareholders in May 2021. In November, the company completed the acquisition for 111.5 million AerCap shares, approximately $23 billion of cash and $1 billion of AerCap notes. In 2022, the company moved its U.S. headquarters from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

The company was negatively affected by the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and the

international sanctions International sanctions are political and economic decisions that are part of diplomatic efforts by countries, multilateral or regional organizations against states or organizations either to protect national security interests, or to protect i ...

that followed. At the beginning of the invasion, it had 152 aircraft valued at $2.5 billion in Russia and Ukraine, which foreign companies were unable to recover or service. In May 2022, the company reported a net loss of $2 billion due to the seizure of its planes and engines by the Russian authorities. 113 of its planes were seized in response to sanctions triggered by the war in Ukraine. AerCap had initially written off or impaired $3.16 billion of assets in relation to the Russian situation although some recoveries were made leaving an overall net charge of $2.66 billion. In September 2023 an agreement was reached with

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...

regarding a compensation package for 17 aircraft stranded in Russia with the payment of a $645 million being made for the settlement, resulting in the aircraft now being owned by Aeroflot. Further cash settlements were received in December 2023 relating to aircraft formerly leased to S7 and Ural Airlines for approximately $572 million in respect of 18 aircraft and one spare engine and (ii) 29 aircraft and four spare engines.

References

External links

* {{Aircraft leasing companies 2006 establishments in Ireland 2007 initial public offerings Aircraft leasing companies of the Republic of Ireland Companies based in Dublin (city) Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange St Stephen's Green Transport companies established in 1995 Aircraft leasing companies