Bird & Bird ATMD LLP  excels in aircraft and engine financing, refinancing, and leasing, regularly acting for a range of lenders and lessees. The team is also well known for airline restructurings and portfolio management. The widely respected aviation expert Leo Fattorini leads ‘a fantastic team of hard-working, solution-orientated and well-respected professionals’. Fattorini counts blue-chip companies, leasing institutions, and aircraft financiers as his key clients, and his recent caseloads include sales and leasebacks, debt financing, and purchase agreements. The recent addition of Niel Liebenberg who joined from an in-house role further strengthens its aviation transaction capability.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Bird and Bird provides exceptional advice on our aircraft leasing matters. We rely on the firm heavily for advice on English law matters. Their advice is timely, practical, and extremely cost-effective. ’

  • ‘Leo Fattorini and Christopher Healy understand our business and are extremely proactive in their approach. They are receptive to our needs and experts in matters relating to aviation law.’

  • ‘Terrific team - industry experts, hard-working, solution orientated and great people to deal with.’

  • ‘Leo Fattorini leads a fantastic team of hard-working, solution-orientated and well-respected professionals. A pleasure to work.’

  • ‘Bird & Bird's main strengths are in commercial aviation or leasing. They are unique in the Singapore market for having capability to advise on a wider range of aviation legal issues - maintenance, sale/purchase, wet lease/ACMI, OEM/supplier contracts, liability, insurance, indemnity protection. They have a depth of knowledge of the aviation industry and airlines including from a regulatory and operational perspective. Their legal rigour in negotiating is also impressive - focus on allocation risk, liability, and what is really important. ’

  • ‘Leo Fattorini has an outstanding level of detail, care, and consideration. Technically he is superb, but he balances that with focusing on what is actually important and critical to protect your interests and provides great guidance given his extensive experience and knowledge. He'd be my absolute go-to for commercial aviation advice.’

Key clients

  • AerCap
  • ST Engineering Aerospace Resources Pte. Ltd
  • IndiGo
  • CCB Leasing
  • ICBC Leasing
  • AirAsia Berhad
  • Turkish Airlines
  • Akasa Air
  • Standard Chartered Bank
  • AerDragon

Work highlights

  • Acted for CCB Leasing, a PRC-based leasing company, on its refinancing with CACIB of two A321neo aircraft on lease to Volaris.
  • Acted for ST Engineering Aerospace Resources Pte. Ltd, a government linked aircraft leasing company based in Singapore, on the purchase of four used A321 aircraft from AerCap.
  • Acted for IndiGo, an Indian low-cost airline, on the leasing of 15 new A320/A321neo aircraft with Avolon.

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Leo Fattorini

Other key lawyers

Niel Liebenberg, Christopher Healy