Private Equity

Private equity funds make leasing planes a hot commodity

Some see a bubble forming as billions floods into the aircraft financing market

Private equity funds make leasing planes a hot commodity
Photo: Getty Images

Private equity investors, known for their jet-setting ways of landing deals, have become hooked on the air transport business. Some fear an airplane investment bubble is forming.

Attracted by a global rise in passenger numbers, an explosion of budget airlines and healthy profits, private equity funds have poured $207bn into financing commercial airliner deliveries since 2009, according to Boeing data, during which time almost $900bn was spent on new jetliners. But with returns dampening, some investors worry the historically cyclical sector is overinflating.

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