Dublin-based Avolon, the world's second-biggest aircraft leasing company, has announced a new order with Airbus for 90 new planes.
The order includes 75 A321neo planes and 15 A330neo planes and they are scheduled to be delivered up to 2033.
Avolon said its new order increases its Airbus commitments to 413 aircraft, comprised exclusively of A320neo family and A330neo new technology planes.
The order also includes purchase rights in respect of a further 25 A321neos, and options to purchase a further 15 A330neos.
Avolon currently has 145 A320neo planes in its delivered fleet, and commitments for a further 358 aircraft including this latest order.
These planes deliver 20% lower fuel burn and CO2 emissions compared to previous generation single-aisle aircraft, and 50% noise reduction. The A321neo can carry up to 244 passengers with a range of 7,400km.
Avolon was a launch customer for the A330neo programme in 2014 and has 33 A330neos in its fleet. Today's agreement bringing Avolon's A330neo orderbook to 55 aircraft.
The A330neo has a range of over 13,300km, and 25% lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to previous generation aircraft.
Andy Cronin, Avolon CEO, said today's order demonstrates the company's strong confidence in the long-term demand for new aircraft.
"Our scale and balance sheet position us to support our airline customers' expansion and replacement needs into the next decade. Both the A321neo and A330neo are in high demand, and we expect this to continue given the long-term growth trajectory for the aviation sector," Mr Cronin said.
"We are delighted to be expanding and extending our long-term partnership with Airbus with this order," he added.
Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, Airbus EVP Sales of the Commercial Aircraft, said that lessors are excellent barometers of the aircraft market.
"This endorsement illustrates the strong attractiveness to a wide variety of customers of these two aircraft, the most efficient in their category with the latest technologies embedded, covering the market space from domestic to regional to long haul routes," he added.
Avolon today also reported lease revenue of $678m for the second quarter, an increase of 3% on the same time last year.
It said its net income jumped by 36% to $143m from $105m while it has proposed a dividend of $146m for the first half of the year.
During the second quarter, the company bought 15 aircraft, sold 20 aircraft and ended the quarter with 54 aircraft agreed for sale.
It also placed 26 aircraft from its orderbook, ending the quarter with 98% of its orderbook placed for the next two years.
It said it ended the quarter with an owned, managed and committed fleet of 1,166 aircraft, including orders and commitments for 532 fuel-efficient, new technology aircraft.
Andy Cronin said the company's momentum in its performance has been reflected in ratings upgrades, with the agencies recognising its growing profitability, balance sheet strength, and high levels of liquidity as fundamental strengths underpinning the business.
"With our near term orderbook almost fully placed, and a high level of contracted aircraft sales, today’s order for 90 aircraft extends our committed fleet out to 2033," he added.
