Airfinance Journal - News, Analysis & Deals in Aviation Finance

LEASING TOP 50 2021


Are airlines moving towards a Marriot-style business model or simply delivering a brand to customers? In this report, Airfinance Journal’s Content Director and Aviation Finance Industry Chair, Laura Mueller, reflects on the sell off of loyalty programmes.

Although airlines are sitting on cash and short-term investments of $180 billion, up from $96 billion at the beginning of 2020, their debt levels have skyrocketed, according to Airfinance Journal’s The Airline Analyst.

Carriers were given a lifeline by governments and banks during the pandemic and much of that – about $110 billion – is in the form of support that needs to be paid back, says IATA’s director-general, Willie Walsh.

Airlines are understandably keen to consider spinning off their customer loyalty programmes to tap into a new source of capital to help pay down swollen balance sheets.

US airlines have flirted with selling their loyalty programmes before. However, the number of buyers looking to scoop up these programmes has increased from mainly private equity money to include data-driven fintech companies as well.


The golden goose here is loyalty which has unlocked billions and billions, and more to come on that. 
Mark Streeter, head of transportation and real estate credit research, JP Morgan

 

The value of Avianca’s almost 90% holding in Life Miles, along with a call option on the remainder, was worth approximately $1.6 billion to $2.6 billion.
John Luth, president, Seabury

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Source: Airfinance Journal's The Airline Analyst.

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With a portfolio of advanced aviation data analytics tools and an experienced global reporting team, we provide solutions that enable market participants to underpin investment decisions, find new investment opportunities, improve their competitive edge, save time and grow business.

As a market-leading intelligence resource for the global aviation finance industry for more than 40 years, we provide the latest news, insightful analysis, league tables, and proprietary aviation data covering fleets, deals, airlines’ financial,  and relative ratings of the airline financial strength. 

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Airfinance Journal News & Analysis, The Airline Analyst, The Airline Analyst API, The Airline Analyst Financial Ratings, Deal Tracker, Fleet Tracker.