Originally published April 7, 2009 at 5:51 PM | Page modified April 8, 2009 at 11:40 AM
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Boeing customer Lion Air gets financing for 30 jets
Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air, which has ordered a whopping 162 of Boeing's newest 737-900ERs, has won approval for more than $1 billion in financing support from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, allaying concerns that it would not find sufficient financing.
Seattle Times aerospace reporter
Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air, which has a whopping 162 of Boeing's newest 737-900ERs on order, has won approval for more than $1 billion in loan support from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, allaying concerns that it would not find sufficient financing.
Ex-Im Bank's board approved $238 million in financing and made a nonbinding preliminary commitment of a further $841 million if Lion Air formally requests it. The bank said the combined amount will support the deliveries of 30 of the 737-900ERs from Boeing.
Bank spokeswoman Linda Formella said the money could be provided either as a loan guarantee or as a direct loan, depending on Lion Air's requirements.
"Ex-Im Bank welcomes this opportunity to support the export of Boeing aircraft to Lion Air," said Ex-Im vice president of transportation, Robert Morin.
Carol Sexton, Southeast Asia managing director of Boeing Capital, the company's financing unit, said in a statement that the financing would support jobs at Boeing in Washington state, and at engine-maker CFM International in Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as at hundreds of suppliers to both.
Last month at a conference in Phoenix, Ariz., Morin said the Ex-Im Bank sees the global credit crunch creating a big shortfall in airplane financing this year. He said the Bank will accordingly increse its financing in the sector, up from the $4-5 billion typical in recent years to around $8-9 billion in 2009.
The bank's explicit purpose is to support jobs in the U.S. by offering export financing.
"This is game day for the Ex-Im Bank," Morin said in Phoenix.
Lion Air's unfilled Boeing orders are worth more than $13 billion at list prices. Market data from aircraft valuation firm Avitas pegs the true value of those jets, after standard discounts, at more than $8 billion.
Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
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