ILFC quiet on Farnborough plane orders

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ILFC quiet on Farnborough plane orders

14/07/2008 12:52

FARNBOROUGH (Reuters) - International Lease Finance Corp, the world’s biggest plane lessor by fleet value, has no plans to announce big orders at the Farnborough airshow, a top company executive said on Monday.

The leasing firm, a unit of insurer American International Group , had been mentioned by analysts as a likely buyer at the airshow, possibly taking advantage of deals from Boeing and Airbus as orders slow in the face of soaring oil prices.

"Nothing planned," ILFC’s chief operating officer John Plueger told Reuters in an interview at the airshow.

Media reports had suggested that ILFC might place an order for as many as 300 single-aisle planes, split between Boeing and EADS unit Airbus, but Plueger called such reports "misleading".

"There is literally no time that we don’t have some proposal in front of us (from the major aircraft manufacturers)," said Plueger. "(Airshows) are not necessarily points that drive us to make decisions... unless we get massive concessions right before or something."

ILFC has been looking at Bombardier’s new CSeries small single-aisle jet, said Plueger, which the Canadian plane maker officially launched on Sunday in an attempt to break into the market for regional planes seating 100 to 145 passengers.

But he said a purchase by ILFC was unlikely before more airlines join Germany’s Lufthansa in making orders for the plane. Leasing companies like to see proof of a plane’s popularity with airlines before committing to a program, as it shows that airlines will be likely to lease the aircraft.

"Usually we are on a launch program where there are four, six, or 10 other airline users that have signed up," said Plueger. "I don’t see us deviating from that."

The airline industry is facing tough times, with the credit crunch and high price of oil, said Plueger, but he predicted ILFC could still make money in turbulent times, as airlines struggle to finance their own plane purchases and will need to lease more of the new, fuel-efficient planes that ILFC has on order.

Overall, he said a broad reduction in flights worldwide was not necessarily a bad thing.

"We will have a lot more airline failures," said Plueger. "But at the end of all that, depending on where fuel is, the players who have survived will hopefully be on a stronger overall platform."

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