Avolon Livery Airbus A321neo February 2026
Avolon’s net income is up 29%. That one sentence is quite eye-popping.
Avolon’s full-year 2025 results are great.
- Generated lease revenue of US$2.8 billion, total revenue of US$3.0 billion, and record operating cashflow of US$2.1 billion in 2025
- Total available liquidity of US$10.7 billion at year end, including US$616 million of unrestricted cash, US$7.5 billion in undrawn debt facilities, and US$2.5 billion in contracted/LOI aircraft sales
- Declared dividend of US$151 million in respect of H2 2025, bringing the full year dividend for 2025 to US$297 million
- Strong Credit Metrics, including Net Debt to Equity of 2.4 times, Unsecured to Total Debt ratio of 77%, and US$23 billion of unencumbered assets
- Credit Rating upgrades in May 2025 at both Moody’s (Baa2) and Fitch (BBB), and Outlook upgraded to Positive with S&P (BBB-)
- Share repurchase authorization of US$600 million, supported by modest leverage, strong operating cashflow and an extensive asset sales pipeline, to be executed in Q1-26
Then there are these details to follow:
- Acquired 168 aircraft in 2025, including 106 aircraft as part of the Castlelake Aviation Limited transaction, and 21 aircraft in Q4
- Sold a record 95 aircraft in 2025 with an average age of 10 years, including 26 aircraft in Q4, and a further 72 aircraft were agreed for sale at year’s end
- Placed 59 new-technology aircraft in 2025, including 10 aircraft in Q4
- Contracted US$6.6 billion of unsecured debt funding across the public and private markets
- Ordered 90 new aircraft with Airbus, including 75 A321neo aircraft and 15 A330neo aircraft, with the new aircraft scheduled to be delivered out to 2033
- Ended the year with an owned, managed, and committed fleet of 1,132 aircraft, including orders and commitments for 500 aircraft
CEO Andy Cronin’s statement is understandably upbeat: “2025 was a very successful year for Avolon, and our strong performance was supported by higher lease rates, robust demand for aircraft, and constructive funding markets. This is reflected in our financial performance with net income of US$591 million and a record US$2.1 billion operating cashflow. Given the ongoing shortage of aircraft, we are in a favorable position to support our customers’ growth prospects with our industry-leading orderbook through to the next decade.”
Summary
The commercial aviation business is doing great – traffic is back, and with the duopoly sitting on a decade’s worth of backlog, there’s more money coming into the silo again. Lessors are easily raising investor funds. Supply chains are straining to keep pace – Airbus has already muted its 2026 target to 880 from over 900.
Avolon’s decision to sell 85 aircraft, only a decade old, tells us a story. The market for second-hand aircraft is hot. Acquiring Castlelake is part of the industry’s ongoing consolidation. Finally, the focus on the A321neo is on target, as this is the most in-demand aircraft at present. The A330neo order is also good – especially since AirAsia is once again proving to be a disappointment to that program.
Expect to see similar upbeat results from the other lessors. Even those less successful are doing OK, because they will be consolidated into the more successful firms.
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