Abu Dhabi: Sanad Aero Aolutions (Sanad), Mubadala’s spare engine and component leasing and financing company, expects to increase its portfolio value to more than $1.5 billion (dh5.5 billion) by 2020, up from over $900 million today.
In an interview at Sanad’s Abu Dhabi offices yesterday, Chief Executive Troy Lambeth told Gulf News that engine and components for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner are likely make up a significant proportion of future assets.
“At the end of the next five years I would expect the 787 to be as much as 10 [to] 20 per cent of our portfolio,” he said.
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has received 1,071 orders for the long-haul jet, as of January 2015.
Sanad announced last month it had leased its first General Electric GEnx (next generation) engine to Etihad, which is used on the 787. Etihad received its first 787 the same month from an order of 71.
“Within our portfolio and partner group there is a lot of 787 orders,” Lambeth said.
Besides Etihad, Sanad’s customers are Air Berlin, Virgin Australia, Finnair and Aeromexico. It also serves flydubai, Indonesia’s Garuda and Ethiopian Airlines through Mubadala subsidiary SR Technics.
Lambeth said he expects to buy more engines for the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet, but not on the same scale as the 787. Sanad has leased an Engine Alliance GP7200 engine to Etihad for the A380 it received in December. Etihad has ten A380s on order.
Airbus has struggled to fill its order book for the superjumbo and has not found a new customer since 2013. Emirates is the single-largest A380 customer with 140 aircraft on order. The airline has expressed interest in ordering more if a more fuel-efficient NEO (New Engine Option) is developed.
“As you look at the [A]380, I think that’s an open question. Is it going to be common enough where there will be a lot of leasing activity on that engine type? It’s hard to say so far,” Lambeth said, though he admitted he would be interested in A380neo engines.
While Lambeth said Sanad “will continue to growth with Etihad,” he dismissed concerns over concentration risk.
“We’ve got an active pipeline of customers that we’re engaging with in discussions,” he said.
Lambeth declined to comment on current financing plans but said since Sanad was established in 2010 it has received “close to $500 million” from Abu Dhabi National Leasing, a subsidiary of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). The rest has either been self funded or through Mubadala.
