Indigo in sale & leaseback deal, inducts fifth aircraft

Mumbai: Taking a cue from other Indian carriers, Delhi-based budget carrier IndiGo Airlines has done a sale and leaseback deal on all the five jets it has taken delivery so far. The airline plans to do similar deals involving operational or financial leases for the first 15 of the 100 Airbus A-320s it has booked, the airline’s CEO Bruce Ashby told Hindustan Times.
Ashby declined to give financial details. Sale and leaseback is a popular financing tool used by airlines under which the buyer sells back the aircraft to the seller and leases it back again, thus saving on large down payments and effectively owning the aircraft bought at a bargain price while paying something like a rent.
Leading carriers like Jet Airways, Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines have entered into sale and leaseback deals and also earned some cash in the process.
07/11/06 Ranju Sarkar/Hindustan Times

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