Fuel prices, scarce credit could depress lease rates
Recent demand for younger airliners has ensured lease market buoyancy, but rental rates could fall if more operators release capacity or collapse under the

Recent demand for younger airliners has ensured lease market buoyancy, but rental rates could fall if more operators release capacity or collapse under the pressure of fuel prices and scarce credit. Major lessor International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) has warned that air traffic growth might slow down, potentially causing “a negative impact on future lease rates.”

U.S. bank Citigroup shares that perspective. “It would seem that absolute lease rates have probably stopped rising, especially for narrowbody aircraft,” the company said in a recent statement. “The recent demise of several airlines has [made] about 60 aircraft available for leasing.”