K2 Aviation is actively looking at aircraft portfolios to support lessors with their divestment goals following its recent rebrand from Kahala Aviation.
In an interview with Airfinance Journal, managing partner Karl Ryan says the company will continue to be agnostic in its approach to acquiring mid- to end-of-life assets, focusing not only on narrowbodies but regional aircraft and widebodies as well.
“We're excited about the relaunch,” he says, recalling that the company sold assets opportunistically pre-pandemic during the market peak, and since then has been waiting for the right opportunities to re-invest.
“We're going to re-enter the market focusing on the mid- to end-of-life segment – we're looking at portfolios at the moment and later we will also look to our airline partners for any sale and leaseback opportunities.
“For now though, we will be looking at portfolio purchases from other lessors and managing the aircraft ourselves.
“With the continued delays from the new orders, there is plenty of demand for midlife metal.”
Quizzed on the appeal of the mid- to end-of-life segment, Ryan underlines the benefit of utilising the team's vast experience in optimising value for older assets.
“You can model out engine leasing and green time assumptions – there is more of an opportunity for creative approaches to manage mid- and end-of-life assets. This segment of the market allows for various strategies to extract remaining life value while K2 Aviation will actively create solutions to support airline customer cost savings in this high inflation environment that has significant impact on all aspects of their operations.”
The relaunched company is founded by a team of industry veterans who bring a wealth of experience and expertise ranging from narrowbody, regional, turboprop and widebody aircraft operating with passenger and cargo airlines.
Charles Graham, executive chairman of K2 Aviation, served as a member of the board of Kahala since 2013. Previously the chief executive officer and managing director of AWAS between 1997 and 2006, he has also served on the board of DHL and as group chairman of ASL Airlines Group.
Michael Howard, chief financial officer (CFO) of K2 Aviation, also previously worked at AWAS as CFO.
Sebastian Lourier will also join K2 Aviation as chief operating officer (COO). He was previously CEO of Crestone Aviation Partners since 2022 and in the past has worked at Contrail Aviation, Fortress Investment Group and Aviation Capital Group in senior aircraft leasing, trading and portfolio management roles.
Ryan previously worked at US lessor Azorra as VP marketing with responsibility for managing airline relationships, commercial transactions, and orderbook placements. He began his career at GECAS and has held roles with Aviation Capital Group, SKY Leasing, AMCK and Avation.
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