S&P UPGRADE COMPLETES INVESTMENT GRADE RATING ALIGNMENT

Avolon Holdings, the Dublin-headquartered global aviation finance company, has published its Q2 2026 business update, reporting a quarter of active fleet transactions, continued orderbook progress and a significant milestone in the company’s credit rating trajectory. The most consequential development of the quarter was the upgrade of Avolon’s issuer credit rating and senior unsecured debt rating by S&P Global Ratings to BBB with a stable outlook, announced on 12 May 2026. The upgrade, from BBB−, brought S&P into alignment with Avolon’s existing ratings from Moody’s (Baa2) and Fitch (BBB), giving the company a consistent investment grade rating across all three major agencies for the first time.

S&P’s upgrade recognised Avolon’s strong financial performance, supported by ongoing orderbook deliveries and active fleet management, and affirmed a stable outlook reflecting confidence in the company’s ability to generate sustained earnings growth through fleet expansion and strong lease yields. The alignment of all three ratings is a material development for Avolon’s capital markets strategy, reinforcing its access to investment grade debt markets on favourable terms and signalling to lenders and investors a consistent view of the company’s credit profile across all major rating frameworks.

FLEET TRANSACTIONS: 21 ACQUIRED, 30 SOLD, 109 AGREED FOR SALE

Avolon acquired 21 aircraft and sold 30 during Q2 2026, with a further 109 aircraft agreed for sale at quarter end — up from 84 agreed for sale at the close of Q1. The net disposal activity reflects Avolon’s continued strategy of actively recycling capital from older assets while maintaining a high-quality, modern fleet. The company executed 46 lease agreements, extensions and amendments during the period, a somewhat lower volume than the 60 transactions completed in Q1, but consistent with ongoing active portfolio management across its airline customer base of 138 airlines in 60 countries.

ORDERBOOK PLACEMENTS: 80% COMMITTED THROUGH END OF 2028

During Q2 2026, Avolon placed nine new-technology aircraft from its orderbook commitments, ending the quarter with 80% of its committed fleet placed through the end of 2028. This compares to 85% at the end of Q1 2026, when 17 aircraft were placed, a quarter-on-quarter movement that reflects the natural timing variability of placement activity as new commitments are added to the orderbook pipeline. Avolon’s total owned, managed and committed fleet stood at 1,117 aircraft at 30 June 2026, down from 1,131 aircraft at 31 March 2026, with the net reduction reflecting the company’s disposals activity during the quarter.

US$455 MILLION MIDDLE EAST REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY

One of the defining financial transactions of the quarter was the closing of a new unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of five banks based primarily in the Middle East. Avolon’s Q2 update references the facility at approximately US$0.5 billion; Avolon’s own press release of 17 April 2026 confirms the precise figure as US$455 million. The dual-tranche facility comprises both a conventional and an Islamic financing component and carries a five-year tenor — a structure that reflects Avolon’s deepening engagement with Middle Eastern capital markets and the growing appetite of regional lenders for high-quality aviation credit.

The arranging banks for the facility were Emirates NBD Capital (Coordinator, Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner), Dubai Islamic Bank (Senior Islamic Mandated Lead Arranger), Standard Chartered Bank (Mandated Lead Arranger), Emirates Islamic Bank and Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (Lead Arrangers) and Sharjah Islamic Bank (Arranger). Ross O’Connor, Avolon’s Chief Financial Officer, described the transaction as marking another step forward in the continued expansion of Avolon’s global funding platform, saying that securing significant, long-term unsecured capital from Middle Eastern banks underlined the strength of the company’s credit proposition and the confidence lenders placed in its strategy, balance sheet and execution capabilities. He said Avolon viewed the region as a key partner in supporting the company’s next phase of disciplined growth. The closing of this facility followed US$2.1 billion in new unsecured financing closed during Q1 2026, continuing the momentum in Avolon’s capital raising activity that had been established across 2025.