Cautious Optimism In The Aviation Industry

For the third year in a row, we're proud to sponsor and participate in the Airline Economics Growth Frontiers 2019 which was held between 4-6 November in Hong Kong. More than 1,100 global airlines, lessors and financiers got together to discuss the current trends, market development and sector outlook in the aviation finance space.

Our team of experts representing the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Japan attended and spoke with peers to explore how the industry will evolve and drive growth. Below are some key takeaways we hear on the ground.

1. Why GATS matters?

   Global Aircraft Trading System (GATS) is needed to bring the aircraft leasing business into the 21st century. The introduction of a GATS Trustee will do away with the current costly and time consuming novation process. On average, an aircraft is traded 5 times in its lifetime. For both airlines and lessors the GATS Trustee will help free up their internal resources and allow them to concentrate on their core business. At Intertrust, we are advanced in the process to become an approved GATS Trustee.

2. Aviation funds

   With the introduction of The Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) and further regulation inevitable, will the market for larger aviation platforms look to use more regulated structures in future? After conversations with our peers over the last year it is clear to see that fund structures are becoming more apparent. Fortunately, our teams at Intertrust are well positioned to administer both a non-regulated SPV structure and an aviation fund platform. We were interested to see that there is an ever increasing interest in fund structures for the aviation market and expect that this will not only help our clients with regulation changes but will also serve to increase the investor base for aviation finance.

3. A...