Trends And Developments Around Choosing A Location For Your Aircraft Leasing Structure

Global passenger traffic continues to grow, mainly due to an increase in the size of the middle class consumer who is eager to discover the advantages of air travel. As a result, there is an increase in the need for aircraft and supporting financing resources.

Global passenger traffic continues to grow, mainly due to an increase in the size of the middle class consumer who is eager to discover the advantages of air travel. As a result, there is an increase in the need for aircraft and supporting financing resources. A global trend has emerged of countries facilitating new funding requirements around aircraft leasing structures. Well-established countries are refocusing their regimes and new countries are introducing regimes that look very promising.

Ireland is a well-established aircraft leasing location

Ireland remains a stable location and is still recognised as the founder of the aircraft financing and leasing industry. There are several reasons why, the primary being its favourable tax regime and the number and standard of tax treaties that Ireland has with other countries. There are other reasons as well, such as a highly educated and skilled labour pool, plus the possibility of the Cape Town Convention Alternative A insolvency remedy being enforced in Ireland, and not forgetting that the Irish Aviation Authority has a reputation as a world-class registration authority and only allows aircraft on the Irish register when those aircraft and the lessee airline have complied with its stringent standards. Their requirement for proper maintenance of aircraft ensures that the aircraft retain a good marketable value, which is a key factor that aircraft lessors consider in choosing where to register their aircraft.

New countries are knocking on the door

There are new countries arriving on the horizon. Hong Kong and Singapore have both introduced new legislation to...