CDB Aviation, a wholly-owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing, completed the financing for eight of the nine Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft under the purchase and leaseback agreement with Calgary, AB-based carrier WestJet. The ninth aircraft is anticipated to close this month. 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,” Peter Goodman, chief marketing officer for CDB Aviation, said. “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 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.”

“We were very pleased with the process in which our teams successfully completed this transaction,” Harry Taylor, executive vice president of finance and CFO of WestJet, said. “The CDB Aviation team was professional, responsive and pleasant to work with.”

CDB Aviation’s position among lessors is anchored in the “robust resources backed by its shareholder, CDB Leasing, and bespoke financing solutions that provide market-leading economics,” Patrick Hannigan, CEO of CDB Aviation, said. “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.”