Rebirth of England.

Chapter 643 Leasing Business
"So you bought three more planes?"

Countess Bute looked at Barron in surprise and asked.

"Actually, there are five..."

Seeing the other party's puzzled expression, Barron said lightly:
"Three aircraft will be delivered in a few months, two Gulfstream G550s and one Boeing 737-900ER..."

Yes, because the price was indeed very suitable, and Baron didn’t care about “such a small amount” of money at all, so he directly ordered five planes.

Just as he said, the existing order is for three aircraft, two of which are Gulfstream G550s. One will become Barron’s simple “sky apartment”, and the other will be used as a passenger plane for his entourage.

As for the other Boeing 737-900ER, this is the latest model of the Boeing 737 series and was first delivered in 2005. The interior of the aircraft has not yet been renovated and it will be directly converted into a cargo plane. It will be modified for Barron's fleet, so that the fleet can be driven directly into this aircraft and can also load a lot of luggage and cargo.

Relatively speaking, the Gulfstream G550 has the best airworthiness. It only needs a 1800-meter runway for takeoff and landing, and even some Level 3 airports can meet this condition.

The conditions required for the Boeing 737-900ER are slightly higher. The take-off and landing runway distance must be at least 2600 meters, and an airport with a 4C rating or higher is required for take-off and landing. But generally speaking, the cities that Barron will visit should at least have a 4C airport, or a 3C airport within a 4-hour driving distance.

This is much more convenient for a large aircraft like the Devonshire, a Boeing 747-400ER - after all, the runway length required for a Boeing 747-400ER must be at least 3000 meters, and there are strict requirements on the width and thickness of the runway. Because the Devonshire has undergone internal modifications, the conditions required are higher than those of ordinary 747-400ER passenger aircraft, and basically requires the highest level 4E airport to meet its take-off and landing requirements.

In today's China, only the airports in first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing can meet the conditions for the Devonshire to take off and land... This greatly limits the use of this aircraft. For example, before, no matter whether he went to China or North America, when he took the Devonshire, he needed to first land at the 4E airport, and then take a fleet or change models to go to other places.

Of course, in terms of the comfort of long-distance flights, the Devonshire is unmatched by any other medium-sized aircraft.

The other two of the five that Barron had ordered...

In fact, these two aircraft are reservations. Both aircraft are Gulfstream's G650, which can reach a speed of almost Mach 1 (one times the speed of sound) and is known as the fastest business jet in the world.

However, this aircraft is still under development and is not expected to start test flights until the second half of next year.

As for delivery...it will be at least 2012.

However, as the first person to order this aircraft, and ordered two at that...Gulfstream gave Barron a relatively large discount.

After all, the aircraft has not been completed yet and has not started test flights. If you order it now, the other party is a super-rich among the super-rich like Barron, who has unparalleled fame all over the world. This huge discount from Gulfstream is somewhat like "advertising fee".

Anyway, Baron knew that this aircraft was very popular in the previous life, and there were countless well-known wealthy people who had purchased this "world's fastest business jet".

Therefore, he did not mind placing an order in advance. Anyway, by then his two G550s would probably have to "retreat to the second line."

And now it's not just Barron, but also his wife Bonnie, as well as Ivanta, Tamaran and Beatrice, who often need private jets for long-distance travel.

Just like the Gulfstream G450 he bought first, it was almost always used by Fan Bingbing - she now often needs to travel back and forth between China and North America. In addition, some of Baron's industry leaders often need business jets to travel - after all, time and efficiency mean money. Before this, these people needed to charter or rent business jets to use. When Baron has more private jets, of course some of them can also be used by these people.

Barron even thought about whether he could directly buy an aircraft leasing company, which could also help him manage these private jets...

It seems that American International Group has a fairly large aircraft leasing company under its umbrella.

"Yes, Your Highness, the aircraft leasing business of American International Group is called International Lease Finance Corporation. It currently owns or manages more than 1000 aircraft and has orders for more than 55 aircraft, with a value of about US$ billion. It is the second largest aircraft leasing company in the world..."

The next day, Zhang Junning had handed over the information of International Leasing Finance Corporation, an aircraft leasing company under American International, to Barron.

In fact, according to the information, due to the huge losses suffered in the subprime mortgage crisis and the fact that aircraft leasing business is not the main business of American International Group, AIG has always hoped to sell this business so that in addition to obtaining some funds, it can return to its "old business" - the insurance industry as soon as possible.

After all, the liquidity and credit status brought by the sale of International Lease Finance Corporation will enable AIG to focus more on its core business.

It is worth mentioning that China is the largest single market for international leasing finance companies. Currently, the company has a total of 180 aircraft in its fleet in China, accounting for 35% of the market share in China.

At present, China's domestic aircraft leasing is mainly monopolized by foreign capital. The reason is that, according to regulations, the purchase of aircraft by China's domestic airlines will mainly be carried out by the state, and most of its domestic leasing companies do not have the right to purchase freely.

Therefore, when these aircraft leasing companies purchase aircraft overseas, they are mostly served by overseas aircraft leasing companies.

The reason why Baron is interested in aircraft leasing companies is not just because his many private jets in the future will need to be managed by such companies. If that were the case, there would be no need to pay attention to a "giant" like International Lease Finance Corporation with a market value of US$55 billion. He could just find a small aircraft leasing company to buy.

This is mainly because Barron knows that the aircraft leasing business still has great development potential in the future, especially in the Asian market including China, where its business growth rate is very impressive.

It just so happens that international leasing finance companies occupy a considerable share of the Asian market, including China.

And one more thing is that the aircraft leasing business is also an important part of Barron's future layout...

Anyway, his Friendship Insurance Group is currently negotiating with AIG about acquiring AIA. If he adds the International Leasing Finance Company to the package, he might be able to get a good price...

Thinking of this, Barron gave Zhang Junning an order:
"Send the information of International Lease Finance Corporation to Finn Hudson..."

The Global Industrial Investment Fund (GII Fund) is about to receive a $100 billion investment from the Middle Eastern tycoons. It is quite appropriate to use this fund to acquire the International Leasing Finance Company.

"Yes, Your Highness the Duke."

(End of this chapter)