Within a span of three years, over $1 billion of aviation assets have been leased out from GIFT City project in Gujarat, official sources said. However, 80 percent of the 148 assets leased so far are aircraft engines and ground support equipment.

“A total of 148 Aviation assets have been leased from GIFT IFSC so far. This includes 20 Aircraft, 9 helicopters, 63 aircraft engines and 56 ground support equipment. The overall value of aircraft assets leased from IFSC has crossed USD 1 billion,” Dr Dipesh Shah, Executive Director (Development) at IFSC Authority at GIFT City told businessline.

Willis Lease Finance India IFSC Pvt Ltd who is the lone player in the engine lease segment at GIFT City has leased 63 engines most of which are meant for Air India. Similarly, Alvest Millennium Aviation Leasing IFSC Ltd has singularly leased out 56 ground support equipment most of which are ground power units and air conditioning units that supply power and air-conditioning to parked aircraft. 

The aircraft leased out from GIFT City include A350s, helicopters, business jet and trainer aircraft. AI Fleet Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Air India has executed lease agreements for six Airbus A350s, which will be deployed in India. Volark Leasing IFSC Pvt Ltd accounts for eight of the total aircraft and helicopters leased and Vman Aviation Services IFSC Pvt Ltd has leased three aircraft.

A total of 27 entities have been authorised for aircraft leasing by IFSC Authority while two more applications from interested entities are awaiting necessary clearances. “The development of the Aircraft leasing ecosystem at GIFT IFSC has opened new avenues for International Financial Services in India. We are witnessing good interest from both lessors and airlines to lease assets from GIFT IFSC,” Shah added.

Similar to the enablement made for the lease of Ground Support Equipment at GIFT IFSC, the Authority now intends to enable the lease of aviation simulation training devices to develop the aviation leasing and training ecosystem in IFSC. These devices include full flight simulators and flight training devices among others, sources added.

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