LONDON – The Dublin-based leasing giant, Griffin Global Asset Management – also known as Griffin – has announced the purchase and leaseback of 3 A320neos with the Colombian low-cost carrier Viva Air. The aircraft are expected to be delivered in the first half of 2023.
The deal
Eric Hild, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Griffin, said: “Griffin is very pleased to partner with Viva to provide these three new A320neo aircraft, which have leading fuel economy and range, allowing Viva customers to fly further and discover exciting new destinations throughout the Americas.”
“As we continue to grow our international operations and low-fare network, we are excited to guarantee the arrival of three brand-new NEO aircraft that will play a key role in our expansion throughout the region.”
“As Colombia’s first Ultra-low-cost airline, we want to lead the air travel experience in Latin America by innovating quickly while keeping costs low for our customers. We are confident that a young fleet and its important savings in fuel consumption are essential to accomplish this goal,” said Viva Air Group Fleet Director, Juan Manuel Rosas.
Accomplishment
According to planespotters.net, the fleet of Viva consists of only A320 family aircraft, with a mix of A320ceos and A320neos. The addition of 3 new A320neos is helping to boost the fleet of Viva to become more environmentally friendly, as it allows the current “batch” of A320ceos to be slowly replaced by the A320neos.
The A320neos would also contribute a lot to productivity for the airline, as the planes would not only be able to replace the currently existing A320ceos, but they would also be able to be used a lot more often without producing more CO2 emissions.
About Viva
Viva, whose operations started in 2009, was founded by one of the former Ryanair co-founders, Declan Ryan (after whom Ryanair is named). Ryan is currently serving on the executive board of Viva. Both Viva and VivaAerobus were once part of the same group, although currently, they both are separated.
Their move to sell and leaseback of the 3 A320neos is very much similar to what EasyJet is doing. The aircraft used to be part of Viva’s own fleet, but because the airline sought to raise some capital, they had to sell their planes.
With a higher return of investment, as these planes would technically not be part of the “main fleet” but part of the leased fleet, this means that the airline has a “cleaner” and “more polished” look on their balance sheet.
This deal is also a very welcome one to Griffin, as Griffin is now able to get a guaranteed lease with a stable income for a certain specified time.
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