Aircraft leasing firms take off

commercial aircraft, worth in excess of $130 billion, which is half of all leased planes worldwide.

The city’s low tax regime, generous capital allowances and vast network of doubletaxation treaties have all contributed toward the growth of the hub.

During the past five years, the leasing arms of large Chinese banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of Communication, Bank of China, and China Development Bank, have all established European headquarters in Dublin.

Despite being newcomers, Chinese leasing companies’ access to capital, thanks to their typical shareholders being large State-owned banks and insurance firms, gives them an advantage, said Duncan Batchelor, a partner at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. He said scale matters in the industry.

Brian Daly, a partner at KPMG, said Chinese companies’ expansion into Dublin is linked to the fact that they are increasingly leasing aircraft to non-Chinese airlines, a trend that started in the last six-seven years.

The demand for leased aircraft is likely to grow. According to estimates from Boeing, airlines in Asia will be flying more than 16,000 planes within 20 years, almost three times the current number.

But there are risks. Protectionism tendencies exhibited by the new US government and Brexit could potentially impact air travel, reducing demand for aircraft.