Nedbank to finance R2.1bn deal for four new Comair aircraft
Banking giant Nedbank announced on Tuesday that it would provide a R2.1-billion boost for airliner Comair’s ongoing fleet upgrade programme over the next year.
The bank would finance the next four Boeing 737-800 aircraft set for delivery in tranches from August to October this year, and February and November 2016, to Comair’s low-cost kulula airline and its premium sister operation British Airways.
This followed on Comair’s receipt of the first four of eight 737-800 aircraft as part of a 2010 order from Boeing.
Three of the first batch of aircraft had been financed by Rand Merchant Bank – with one aircraft deal subsequently bought by Nedbank – and one aircraft was financed by a US-based bank.
Both the airline and official export credit agency, the US Export-Import Bank, which still needed to ratify the deal but provided the support and credit backing, were willing to agree to a rand-financed transaction, Nedbank Corporate and Investment Bank head of aircraft finance James Geldenhuys told media at a briefing, in Sandton, on Tuesday.
Comair CEO Erik Venter said the brand new aircraft had the potential to “unlock significant” fuel and maintenance cost savings.
The airline had already parked its 737-300 fleet, replacing it with the 737-800s, and was phasing out its 737-400 fleet, which would be mostly replaced by the new 737-8 Max aircraft on order for delivery by 2021.
Last year, Comair ordered eight of the $830-million future-generation Boeing 737-8 Max airliners and had taken options on a further eight.
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