Turkish Airlines wins at Airfinance Journal's Awards night

Turkish Airlines has been awarded “Tax Lease Deal of the Year 2014” and “Engine Deal of the Year 2014” by Airfinance Journal at the awards ceremony held in Miami. Airfinance Journal examines the financial structures of global airlines and rewards the best financing structures in different categories. 

Turkish Airlines won the “Tax Lease Deal of the Year 2014” because of the innovative structure of the first ever ECA (European Export Credit Agency) Guaranteed Italian Tax Lease for the financing of two Airbus A330-300 aircrafts, which were delivered in 2014. 

The structure, first of its kind, is Japanese Yen denominated, contrary to the United States Dollar dominated aviation finance sector. The structure benefits from a substantial reduction in the cost of financing via combining tax benefits, ECA guarantee and Japanese Yen-denomination. Societe Generale arranged this structure, worth USD 200 million. 

The winner of the “Engine Deal of the Year 2014” was the innovative United States Exim Bank guarantee worth $40 million in spare engine financing on behalf of Turkish Airlines. 

The deal was structured for the financing of General Electric GE90115BL and General Electric CF6-80E1A3 engines, to be fitted, to Airbus A330-300 and Boeing B777-300ER aircrafts respectively. This is the first time in Airbus’s 45-year history that United States Exim Bank has financed any US-manufactured aftermarket component on a non-US aircraft.