TrueNoord And NAC Conclude Most Recent Asset Sale

Truenoord Embraer E190 E1 Render
Credit: TrueNoord

Regional aircraft lessor TrueNoord has completed the purchase of its latest batch of small narrowbody airliners from fellow-lessor Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC).

The deal, first announced in May, sees seven Embraer E190s move to TrueNoord, together with a single De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400.

It is the latest in a series of purchases from NAC by TrueNoord as the two companies re-align their aircraft portfolios.

While TrueNoord focuses on leasing regional aircraft, NAC is expanding into narrowbodies.

TrueNoord has now made three purchases of aircraft packages from NAC, totalling 29 aircraft in the past 20 months. Last March, NAC also made a sizeable divestment of 24 Embraer E1 series aircraft to Falko.

NAC has said that it intends to remain a significant player in regional aircraft leasing and currently has orders for Airbus A220 crossover jets, for example. However, the company is also expanding into larger aircraft such as new and used Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family members, and is reducing its portfolio of mature assets such as the Embraer E1 series.

TrueNoord, for its part, sees the three transactions with NAC complementing its fleet, “both in terms of age, as well as geographic distribution,” TrueNoord CCO Richard Jacobs said in May. “They bring the TrueNoord fleet closer to matching the pattern of the world’s regional fleet.”

Demand for small narrowbody jets is being driven partly by the general shortage of airframes stemming from engine and supply chain issues at the major OEMs.

“However, these were not the primary considerations in TrueNoord absorbing these portfolios. It is our longer-term view that these products, which are the mainstay of the current regional fleet, will serve the market well until a future generation of aircraft has matured into adequate technology readiness,” he said at the time.

“This transaction underscores our commitment to strategically expand our fleet while building on our positive relationship with NAC,” TrueNoord transaction manager, Abhineet Awasthi said as the sale concluded.

Alan Dron

Based in London, Alan is Europe & Middle East correspondent at Air Transport World.