ACIA Aero Leasing, a provider of regional aircraft leasing and lease management services, added Fly LeOne in Italy and NXT Air in Bangladesh as lessee customers.

“We are delighted to further broaden ACIA’s growing customer base both in Europe and Asia by adding our first airline customers in Italy and Bangladesh,” Sameer Adam, senior vice president of commercial for ACIA Aero Leasing, said. “Our commercial and technical teams worked closely with both carriers to overcome the significant logistical challenges to getting their aircraft delivered in view of the countries’ strict COVID-19 mitigation measures.”

Startup Fly LeOne took delivery of a Beechcraft 1900D, which the carrier will operate on direct routes between Italy’s underserved regional airports and Mediterranean tourist destinations in addition to connecting small city pairings within the country.

Stefano Costantini, CEO of Fly LeOne, reacted to the delivery by emphasizing ACIA Aero Leasing’s “strong support for our airline and working closely with the Fly LeOne team over the past six months to deliver this aircraft. As we look to put this first aircraft into service in the coming weeks, we are already looking forward to adding additional aircraft from ACIA as European and Italian passenger demand continues its recovery.”

NXT Air took delivery of an ATR 72 freighter, which will enable the Bangladeshi operator to ramp up its capacity to carry goods for group company partners.

“This is a time for air operators to explore new revenue opportunities and we see a positive long-term partnership with ACIA to deliver on these opportunities,” Nizam Ahmad, CEO of NXT Air, said. “The addition of this ATR 72 freighter will further support our business growth and those of our partners.”

“We have had an extremely busy 2021 so far, with aircraft transactions on every major continent,” Mick Mooney, CEO of ACIA Aero Leasing, said. “These two lease transactions are further evidence of ACIA’s focus on growth, our ability to execute transactions in challenging jurisdictions and deliver aircraft in spite of the COVID-19-related disruption facing the aviation sector. Thanks to both of our new lessees for trusting us to deliver.”

K&L Gates advised ACIA Aero Leasing on both transactions.