CDB Aviation Purchases and Leases Back Nine 737 MAX Aircraft to WestJet

Agreement Signifies Addition of Lessor’s First Airline Customer in Canada

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Limited (“CDB Leasing”), announced today the company has completed the financing for eight of the nine Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft under the purchase and leaseback agreement with Calgary-based carrier WestJet. The ninth aircraft is anticipated to close in December 2020. The aircraft were originally delivered to WestJet over the past three years.

“We have formed a strong working relationship with our colleagues at WestJet, and warmly welcome them to our growing family of airline customers across the Americas,” commented CDB Aviation Chief Marketing Officer Peter Goodman. “We appreciate their trust in our platform and confidence in our ability to deliver this innovational, customized, and large-scale financing.”

Goodman emphasized the lessor’s established platform’s ability to close transactions of this scale, pointing to “our commercial team’s unrelenting focus on listening to our customers and working collaboratively on crafting financing solutions that fit their requirements.”

WestJet Executive Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer Harry Taylor remarked: “We were very pleased with the process in which our teams successfully completed this transaction. The CDB Aviation team was professional, responsive, and pleasant to work with.”

CDB Aviation’s highly competitive position among lessors is anchored in the “robust resources backed by its shareholder, CDB Leasing, and bespoke financing solutions that provide market-leading economics,” expanded CDB Aviation Chief Executive Officer Patrick Hannigan.

Hannigan concluded: “The expediency and resourcefulness, with which the team collaborates with our airline partners, are reflective of our steadfast investment in the strategy centered on meeting the airlines’ wide-ranging needs, from supporting operations in the current pandemic-affected environment to delivering solutions for the long term.”

About WestJet

Since the start of the pandemic the WestJet Group of Companies has built a layered framework of safety measures to ensure Canadians can continue to travel safely and responsibly through the airline's Safety Above All hygiene program. During this time, WestJet has maintained its status as one of the top-10 on-time airlines in North America as named by Cirium. www.westjet.com.

About CDB Aviation

CDB Aviation is a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Limited (“CDB Leasing”) a 35-year-old Chinese leasing company that is backed mainly by the China Development Bank. CDB Aviation is rated Investment Grade by Moody’s (A1), S&P Global (A), and Fitch (A+). China Development Bank is under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council of China and is the world’s largest development finance institution. It is also the largest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financing cooperation, long-term lending and bond issuance, enjoying Chinese sovereign credit rating.

CDB Leasing is the only leasing arm of the China Development Bank and a leading company in China’s leasing industry that has been engaged in aircraft, infrastructure, ship, commercial vehicle and construction machinery leasing and enjoys a Chinese sovereign credit rating. It took an important step in July 2016 to globalize and marketize its business – listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX STOCK CODE: 1606). www.CDBAviation.aero