ING Closes Pre-Delivery Payment Financing for Ethiopian Airlines - 10 June, 2016
ING Closes Pre-Delivery Payment Financing for Ethiopian Airlines
ING Capital LLC announced that it closed a USD 107.5 million pre-delivery payment (PDP) financing for Ethiopian Airlines on May 12 in respect of Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The airline is utilizing the PDP financing to finance a portion of the pre-delivery payments which it makes to Airbus prior to the delivery of each aircraft. ING Capital is the sole lender and facility agent.
Ethiopian Airlines has ordered 14 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, the first of which is scheduled to be delivered in June 2016. The airline will be the first African A350 operator when it takes delivery of the first aircraft. Ethiopian Airlines plans to deploy the aircraft on its expanding route network linking Africa with Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Terina Golfinos, Managing Director and Head of ING Capital’s Structured Export Finance team in New York, said, “We were especially pleased to have the opportunity to support our long-standing client Ethiopian Airlines on its very first PDP financing for Airbus aircraft. ING is delighted to continue its close collaboration with Ethiopian Airlines on the financing of its fleet of aircraft, which allows the airline to continue its strategic and rapid expansion as Africa’s most successful airline”.
Meseret Bitew, acting Chief Financial Officer at Ethiopian Airlines, said, "The financial support for our acquisition of the A350 aircraft is critical to Ethiopian Airlines as we aim to sustain our position of being the pioneer of African aviation as an aircraft technology leader. As part of our on-going fleet expansion and modernization strategy, the acquisition of these aircraft will help us to be better position and serve our customers and to be on track to achieve our Vision 2025 goals."
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About Ethiopian
Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its seven decades of operations, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.
Ethiopian commands the lion’s share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to 92 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, Bombardier Q-400 double cabin with an average fleet age of five years. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft.
Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centers: Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.
For more information about this press release, please contact:
Mrs. Hanna Atnafu
Manager of Corporate Communications
Ethiopian Airlines
Tel: (251-1) 517-89-07/656/165/913/529
CorporateCommunication@ethiopianairlines.com
www.ethiopianairlines.com
www.facebook.com/ethiopianairlines
www.twitter.com/flyethiopian
ING CAPITAL LLC – PROFILE
ING Capital LLC is a financial services firm offering a full array of wholesale financial lending products and advisory services to its corporate and institutional clients. ING Capital LLC is an indirect U.S. subsidiary of ING Bank N.V. and a part of ING Group (NYSE: ING), a global financial institution of Dutch origin. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business.
Press inquiries:
Elaine Clark
Regional Head Corporate Communications
ING Financial Services LLC
+1 (646) 424-7021
elaine.clark@ing.com
