Lessors lead Farnborough sales again

• Air Lease Corporation ordered 54 737-800s with options on a further six. Air Lease signed a letter of intent with Embraer for 15 Embraer E-190s and options on a further five, while it also announced an order for 10 ATR 72-600s with options on a further 10 of the type.
• New lessor Avolon has been identified as the customer for 12 737-800s sold in December 2009 and attributed to an undisclosed customer.
• Royal Jordanian has ordered an additional three 787-8s, which were previously allocated to an undisclosed customer.
• LAN Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding for 50 A320 Family aircraft. The commitment includes 10 A321s.
• Hong Kong Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire 15 A350s and 10 additional A330-200s. The A350 order represents the conversion of 15 existing A330 orders.
• Brazilian carrier Azul placed an order for 20 firm and 20 options for ATR 72-600s, making it the launch customer for the -600 series in South America.
• Swedish regional carrier Golden Air ordered two ATR 72-500s, which will be delivered in August and October 2010. The airline will operate the two aircraft on behalf of SAS subsidiary Blue1 in Helsinki.
• Lao Airlines has purchased two ATR 72-500s, which will be delivered by the end of the year.

The orders from Air Lease Corporation come after the cashed up lessor ordered 51 A320 Family aircraft on July 19, with the company indicating that it plans to operate a diverse portfolio. In particular, the ATR order appears interesting, with Udvar-Hazy never ordering turboprops during his time in charge of ILFC.

The orders from ATR cemented a successful start to the year, with the company having recorded orders for 42 new aircraft this year and 30 options. The company also delivered 26 new aircraft during the first half of the year, while its backlog at June 30 was at 152 aircraft, representing more than two years’ of production.