Willis Lease and CASC to establish engine leasing joint venture in China

Jet engine lessor Willis Lease Finance and China Aviation Supplies Import & Export (CASC) will establish CASC Willis Engine Lease (CASC Willis), a 50/50 engine leasing joint venture, in Shanghai, China.

The JV will provide engine support solutions to Chinese airlines, while creating an engine resource sharing platform.

It will meet the increasing demand for leased commercial aircraft engines and aviation assets in China.

CASC Willis will be established within the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (SFTZ) to benefit from the governmental support programmes offered to the companies there.

China Aviation Supplies Holding president and CEO Li Hai said: "Combined with CASC’s industry expertise and strong relationships, we believe this joint venture has a very promising future.

"Based on industry forecasts and conservative assumptions, we believe the size of the spare engine market in China over the next five years will reach approximately $2bn, and we expect that CASC Willis will be well-positioned to capture a sizable portion of that business."

Willis Lease president Donald A Nunemaker said: "Our initial focus will be investing in current generation engines powering the fleet of narrow-body and wide-body commercial aircraft in China.

"However, we fully expect to migrate into new technology engines, such as CFM International’s LEAPx, General Electric’s GEnx and GE9X and Pratt & Whitney’s GTF, once those engines become available."

The JV is subject to board and certain regulatory approvals, which are expected in the near term.

A subsidiary of China Aviation Supplies Holding, CASC engages in aviation supplies trade, distribution and logistics and specialises in aircraft procurement and support services for aviation supplies.

Willis Lease Finance leases commercial aircraft engines, APU’s and aircraft to airlines, aircraft engine manufacturers and maintenance, repair and overhaul providers.