CDB Aviation, a wholly-owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing, appointed Brian Dowling chief technical officer.

Dowling has a career spanning more than four decades in the aircraft leasing and airline maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industries. He is a technical expert who has handled a range of complex transactions, including aircraft transitions, led LOI and lease execution and overseen relationships with global OEM and MRO organizations.

“Brian has led our technical team during this past year, exhibiting a profound understanding of our platform’s unique technical requirements,” Patrick Hannigan, CEO of CDB Aviation, said. “It’s no easy task in any environment to gauge and respond to business requirements in this area. The notable results he and his team have achieved under his leadership leave no question as to Brian’s capabilities. We’re thrilled to welcome him to our leadership team.”

Dowling joined CDB Aviation in 2017 as head of transitions and transactions. While overseeing technical support to the airline marketing and aircraft trading functions, he also led technical operations in regional offices in Ireland, the Asia Pacific region and the Americas. Prior to CDB Aviation, Dowling was senior vice president of technical and asset management at SMBC Aviation Capital. Previously, he was hangar line manager and senior quality assurance manager with Lufthansa Technic Shannon, Aer Lingus, Dan Air and Nigeria Airways. He started his career as an avionic licensed engineer at Gatwick and Dublin Airports. Dowling is an FAA and EASA certified engineer.

“Leading our technical operations has offered me a superb challenge, especially in light of the aviation business’ cyclical nature and the pandemic’s astounding ramifications for the industry,” Dowling said. “I find the people aspect of my role most rewarding because my colleagues bring incredible ingenuity to every challenge. I look forward to furthering the efforts in support of leasing customers and, as importantly, the team here at CDB Aviation.”