ICBC's aircraft-leasing arm aims to double number of planes

ICBC Financial Leasing, the mainland's biggest domestic aircraft lessor, aims to deliver more than 300 planes to customers by the end of 2016, nearly double current levels, a senior executive said.

ICBC Financial's drive into a market dominated by global players comes as mainland leasing firms, backed by state lenders, play an increasingly important role in the growing domestic aviation business. Nearly 6,000 new jets, worth US$780 billion, are expected to be delivered over the next 20 years, according to aircraft-maker Boeing.

"Local companies have been expanding quickly and the growth potential is huge," said Mark Jiang, the managing director of aviation finance at ICBC Financial. ICBC Financial is backed by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, while Bank of China and other state lenders support other lessors.

Jiang said ICBC Financial, which signed a US$1.1 billion deal with Embraer for 20 E190-E2 jets during President Xi Jinping's visit to Brazil last month, currently owned and managed 384 planes, up from 60 three years ago.

Even though International Lease Finance, part of AerCap, and Gecas, a unit of General Electric, still dominate the market, mainland lessors led by ICBC Financial and CDB Leasing, backed by China Development Bank, have managed to win a big chunk of business in recent years.

Jiang said mainland lessors now handled 80 per cent of all new domestic leasing business, up from almost zero five years ago. ICBC Financial now has 17 domestic clients and 34 overseas clients.