CDB Aviation has delivered three Airbus A321-251NX aircraft to Jet2, the Leeds-Bradford based leisure airline and holiday operator, configured in 232-seat all-economy layout with Jet2holidays livery; the deliveries form part of Jet2's 155-aircraft firm order for A321neo aircraft placed with Airbus in March 2023.

CDB Aviation Lease Finance DAC (CRO 472612) is a Dublin-headquartered aircraft operating lessor, wholly owned by China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (HKEX: 1606), itself majority-owned by China Development Bank. At end-2024, CDB Aviation held 521 owned and committed assets, with 307 aircraft on operating lease to 71 airlines in 38 countries, executing 70 transactions in 2024 including orders for 130 new narrowbody aircraft.

CDB Aviation holds investment-grade ratings from Moody's (A2), S&P (A) and Fitch (A+) and employs 122 people from its Dublin headquarters. Jet2 plc (LSE: JET2) is a Leeds-Bradford-based airline and package holiday operator, reporting revenues of £5.4 billion and pre-tax profit of £442 million for FY2025.

The structural driver is the global A320neo family supply constraint creating a structurally advantaged market for lessors holding near-term delivery positions. Airbus and Boeing combined have run 20 to 25% below pre-pandemic delivery guidance since 2022, making new narrowbody slots the scarcest asset in commercial aviation.

CDB Aviation's 2024 order for 130 additional narrowbody aircraft places it in the top echelon of lessors by orderbook scale, giving it forward delivery positions to offer airlines that cannot be obtained directly from Airbus at commercially viable timeframes. For Jet2, leasing from CDB Aviation accelerates its fleet modernisation programme rather than waiting in the direct Airbus queue.

The Jet2 relationship is CDB Aviation's first publicly announced UK leisure carrier placement, extending its European customer base beyond flag carriers and FSCs into the leisure segment, commercially significant given that UK leisure aviation is among Europe's fastest-recovering post-pandemic markets.

For Ireland's aviation finance cluster, CDB Aviation's Dublin hub demonstrates that Chinese state-backed lessors remain active users of the Irish aircraft leasing ecosystem, maintaining Dublin as the booking location for aircraft placed with European and global airline customers.

Source: monitordaily.com / businesswire.com / briefglance.com / cdbaviation.aero