Team size: Three

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

The team’s work in 2023 reflects the growing activity in the aviation market. In the past year, we successfully executed transactions for a number of third-party investors, including Asian institutional investors and US private equity clients re-entering the aviation market or investing in aircraft for the first time. Each of these transactions was a key step in implementing the company’s strategy to broaden our third-party investor base. We also continue to actively support our JOL investors to achieve positive outcomes for their investments. In 2023, we executed a multi-aircraft financing facility with an alternative lender, tapping into a different financing product with more favourable terms than what would have otherwise been available in the commercial bank market.

How have you attempted to bring the legal department closer to your business colleagues?

A close working relationship between our legal and commercial teams is critical to the success of our business. The legal team must understand our investors’ expected commercial outcomes to ensure that transactions brought in by the commercial department are executed in a way that achieves our investors’ expected outcomes, while also protecting their rights and interests in the future. We continue to refine our processes to ensure that the legal team is brought into commercial discussions at an early stage, to keep an open communication loop during the transaction, and to provide outlets for debriefs and mutual feedback at the end of a transaction.

What are some of the main trends in the industry sector you work in in Ireland?

We are seeing an optimistic attitude across the aircraft leasing industry. Air travel has returned to pre-pandemic levels and investors have renewed, long-term interest in financing aircraft. Recent technical challenges experienced by manufacturers has resulted in an undersupply of new aero engines and aircraft, which has benefitted aircraft lessors based in Ireland (and elsewhere) by increasing demand for lessors’ aircraft. This has led to extending the life of older assets, more lease extensions and buoyant lease rates.

The other industry trend is the continued effort to decarbonise aviation. Aircraft Leasing Ireland (ALI) was set up in 2018 to give aircraft leasing a single, informed voice to tackle the challenge of climate change and develop a pathway to reach carbon neutrality as targeted by IATA’s net zero 2050 resolution. We are both contributors and developers of the INNIU learning platform developed by ALI and Aviation Skillnet to provide training on all ESG issues relevant to our industry.

What are some of the main legislative or regulatory changes that have impacted you?

The most impactful legislative and regulatory changes which affected our business in 2023 are related to the response of various governments to worldwide geopolitical issues. Implementation of new EU sanctions regulations regarding Russia at the end of 2023 has created new regulations that all aircraft leasing companies based in the EU must observe, and the regulations have retroactive effect. This has created a significant body of work, as we review existing contracts to confirm compliance or amend as necessary, as well as ensure that new transactions executed in 2024 and beyond reflect updated sanctions requirements going forward.