Delivering regional aviation to the
world
HALIFAX, Oct. 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Chorus Aviation Inc.
('Chorus') (TSX: CHR) announced today that Chorus Aviation Capital
('CAC') has acquired two ATR72-600 aircraft (MSNs 1147, 1154) on
lease to Malindo Air, a Malaysian operator forming part of the Lion
Air Group. Earlier this year, CAC also delivered two new ATR 72-600
aircraft (MSNs 1577 and 1579) for lease to Malindo Air, bringing
the total number of aircraft leased by CAC to the Lion Air Group to
five. With these acquisitions, Chorus Aviation Capital has
announced 581 commitments to date for its regional
aircraft leasing business.
"We are delighted to expand our relationship with Malindo Air
and the Lion Air Group in the fast-growing and increasingly
significant Southeast Asian market," said Steve Ridolfi, President, Chorus Aviation
Capital. "So far this year, we've secured lease commitments for 24
aircraft and continue to evaluate several additional opportunities.
To date, we've grown the value of our leasing portfolio to
approximately US $1.1 billion with US
$815.0 million in future contract
lease revenue."
"This solid growth trajectory has led to a very strong portfolio
of brand name regional airlines with aircraft type and geographic
diversity. Since the launch of the business, we have grown the
regional aircraft leasing segment by an average of approximately 20
aircraft per year. In the near term, we have the capacity to
continue with a similar rate of growth through a combination of
additional debt and internally generated cash flows to fund the
equity portion of the aircraft acquisitions," commented
Joe Randell, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Chorus.
Upon the completion of this transaction, and four pending
aircraft deliveries to other customers, CAC's portfolio will
include 46 turboprops and 12 regional jets. When the aircraft
earning leasing revenue under the Capacity Purchase Agreement are
added to the aircraft in CAC's portfolio, Chorus' total leased
portfolio grows to 124 aircraft valued at approximately US
$2.0 billion.1
About Chorus Aviation Capital
Established in 2017, Chorus Aviation Capital currently has
relationships with 15 regional airlines based in 15 countries. CAC
is focused on building a portfolio of new and mid-life regional
aircraft, while leveraging the synergies inherent among its
affiliated companies to provide a full suite of regional aviation
services.
About Chorus
Headquartered in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, Chorus was incorporated on September 27, 2010. Chorus' vision is to deliver
regional aviation to the world. Chorus has been leasing its owned
regional aircraft into Jazz's Air Canada Express operation since
2011, and established Chorus Aviation Capital to become a leading,
global provider of regional aircraft leases. Chorus also owns Jazz
Aviation LP and Voyageur Aviation Corp. – companies that have long
histories of safe and solid operations that deliver excellent
customer service in the areas of contract flying operations,
engineering, fleet management, and maintenance, repair and
overhaul. Together, the Chorus group of companies can provide a
full suite of regional aviation support services. Chorus Class A
Variable Voting Shares and Class B Voting Shares trade on the
Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol 'CHR'.
www.chorusaviation.com
About Malindo Air
Malindo Air is a Malaysian premium airline with headquarters in
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Malindo Air operates from
the Kuala Lumpur International
Airport (KLIA) and the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (also known
as the Subang Airport, Subang SkyPark or LTSAAS) in Subang,
Selangor, Malaysia. The carrier
currently operates a young fleet of Boeing 737-900ER, 737-800 and
ATR72-600 aircraft for both domestic and international flights.
The carrier operates a network of scheduled passenger services
throughout Malaysia and has spread
its wings to regional destinations in Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Singapore, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, Australia and
Pakistan covering an extensive
network of almost 68 routes in the region. Malindo Air prides
itself in offering its customers attractive fares, on-time flights
and excellent customer service both on-ground and in-flight.
In-flight connectivity services Malindo WiFi and Malindo Mobile
were introduced in June 2015, as a
product enhancement on board its B737-900ER fleet. Currently,
Malindo Air has 1,500 flights travelling weekly to over 58
destinations
Forward-Looking Information
This news release may contain 'forward-looking information'.
Forward-looking information is identified by the use of terms and
phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate",
"expect", "intend", "may", "plan", "predict", "potential",
"pending", "project", "will", "would", and similar terms and
phrases. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual
results, performance or achievements to differ materially from
those indicated in the forward-looking information. Actual results
may differ materially from results indicated in forward-looking
information for a number of reasons, including the failure to close
the transactions referenced in this news release on the terms and
conditions currently contemplated by Chorus, or at all, as well the
risk factors identified in Chorus' Annual Information Form dated
February 21, 2019 and in Chorus'
public disclosure record available at www.sedar.com.
Statements containing forward-looking information in this news
release represent Chorus' expectations as of the date of this news
release (or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made)
and are subject to change after such date. Chorus disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise such statements to
reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise, unless
required by applicable securities laws.
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1 There
are currently four pending aircraft leasing transactions in the
Regional Aircraft Leasing segment. Future aircraft leasing
commitments in the Regional Aviation Services segment consist of
nine CRJ900s to be received in 2020 and 10 ESPs that are planned
for completion between 2019 and 2022. For a description of Chorus'
reporting segments, please refer to the financial statements and
management's discussion and analysis for the quarter ended June 30,
2019. A foreign exchange rate of $1.2600 (based on the long-term
average historical rate) was used in the calculation of the
estimates.
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SOURCE Chorus Aviation Inc.