Airbus A330-900_VirginAtlantic
AerCap, the world’s biggest lessor with an owned and managed fleet of 1.557 commercial aircraft, grew its order portfolio last year with 103 aircraft. But none of these were direct orders with Airbus and Boeing. For the time being, AerCap has no intention to knock on the door of the two airframers.
It’s some years since AerCap went shopping. In June 2015, it placed an order for 100 Boeing MAX 8s, followed by 18 in 2016, two in 2018, and six in 2022. At the 2017 Paris Airshow, AerCap bought 30 Boeing 787-9s, followed by another five in Farnborough 2022. Airbus won an order in December 2017 for 25 A320neos and 25 A321neos, the last one in the last decade.
Yet, AerCap has grown its Airbus assets on order by 103 aircraft. Of these, 52 firm orders and 45 options come from the Chapter 11 restructuring of Spirit Airlines in October. And on January 13, it disclosed a sale and leaseback for six A330-900s for Virgin Atlantic for delivery from Q2 this year to Q4 2027.
“None of those aircraft came through direct orders from the OEMs. It was all because of our positioning in the industry and how we were able to assist our customers. We also ordered 22 helicopters and, importantly, in the last two years, we have committed to purchase 281 brand new engines, through our own engine business, which we 100 percent own in-house, and the SES joint venture. So, we have found very significant growth away from the tent in Farnborough or Le Bourget”, said AerCap CEO Aengus Kelly during the FY25 results earnings call on February 6.
He added: “That’s not to say that we won’t order with the OEMs. I’m delighted to order with them. But it has to be on terms that make sense for our customers. And I do think just a bilateral straight-up deal – it’s hard to see how that will add value at the moment, given the duration of when you deliver this stuff. But there are other things that AerCap can offer to OEMs, and discussions we’ve had with OEMs about that, that they value. So, I would say, if the right opportunity comes, of course, we will.”
Portfolio
A look at the portfolio shows that AerCap has 433 owned and 31 managed A320neos, with another 161 on order. For the A330neo, this is 12 owned, two managed, and six on order. The lessor has 41 owned A350s plus six managed, but no further aircraft on order. It’s the same with the A220, with 19 owned and six managed.
Asked for his opinion about the stretched A220 that Airbus is likely to offer to customers anytime soon, Kelly showed himself not a fan of this variant: “Look, candidly, I just don’t see anywhere in the market that the airplane is needed. Airbus are the market leader in the narrowbodies. I think they’d be just cannibalising their own market share, incurring a lot of cost. I know the A220-300 program – they want to make it more profitable. I think they just focus on the efficiency of manufacturing the aircraft rather than trying to just scale up more volume, because I think they’re only eating their own market share. It’s not solving a problem that exists, in my view, that aircraft.”
Boeing
The Boeing MAX portfolio consists of 89 owned and nine managed aircraft, plus 92 on order. AerCap has 112 owned 787s plus 14 on order. In a year, it shed quite a few 777 Classics, bringing the numbers down from 46 to 29 owned aircraft. Some will be converted by IAI into 777-300ERSF freighters. “The cargo market has shown tremendous resilience despite global trade tariffs and other geopolitical challenges. (…) Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing our robust pipeline of feedstock and expect to deliver another 15 cargo aircraft from our cargo conversion programs in 2026, 5 of which are part of the 777-conversion program.”
The Embraer portfolio consists of 55 E1 and E2 jets, with another five on order.
Selling off
AerCap sold 145 aircraft last year, plus 35 engines and nine helicopters for a total of $3.9 billion at a net gain of $819 million. “We sold 108 owned aircraft at an average age of 15 years, generating strong gains while improving the overall quality of our portfolio”, said Kelly. “We also extended 87 percent of our leased aircraft in 2025, up from 79 percent in 2024, which further highlights the strength of customer demand. Airlines and lessors remain prominent buyers, accounting for more than 80 percent of the aircraft sales revenues last year.”
CFO Peter Juhas guided $2 to $3 billion of sales for 2026, so more aircraft will be exiting the portfolio. Aengus Kelly explained how AerCap decides on selling: “When we sell assets, we’re not selling them to generate a gain. (…) The driver is to look at where the portfolio will be. The way we want the portfolio to be is if we have older technology assets like the 737, the A320, the 777, the A330. We want them to be old assets. We do not want young variants of those assets. At some point, the 777 and the A330s and the A320s will be replaced in large part by the neos, by the MAXs, by the 787s, etc. And so, if you have a 2017 A320 or 777, for that aircraft to return a fair cost of capital over the lifespan, it has to still be in service in 2042 if you bought it in 2017, because it’s 25 years of service. I simply do not believe that will be the case. At some point in the 2030s, the demand for those assets will fall off. And therefore, you do not want to have young variants of those assets.”
“Now, having an old variant that’s 18 years old of an A330 or 737 or 320, that’s perfectly fine because you’re going to get another five or six years, five-odd years out of it, and you’ll do just fine off the asset. And then when it comes to buying assets, what we want to make sure is that we’re in the assets of the future, the ones that we believe the most durable demand is for out there, and that’s where we invest in the A321neo, A320neo, 737 MAX 8, 787-9, A330-900, A350-900.”
AerCap ended 2025 with a net income of $3.8 billion and an Adjusted net income of $2.7 billion, or EPS of $15.37. The company returned $2.6 billion to shareholders and recovered an additional $43 million in Q4 related to the war in Ukraine, bringing total recoveries to approximately $3 billion. Excluding gains in sales, AerCap expects EPS to be between $12 and $13 this year.
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