OREANDA-NEWS. NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank is financing 13 new aircraft for air-line company Air Berlin, reported the press-centre of NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank.

With a volume of well over 400 million US dollars, this financing project is the largest mandate of an airline in the history of the bank. NORD/LB will initially be assuming the full credit amount and will soon be involving other banks in the financing project in the form of a syndication.

"This will reinforce our role as one of the five leading aircraft financers in the world," Dr. Gunter Dunkel, Deputy Chairman of the NORD/LB Board of Management, explained. "At the same time the transaction is an expression of our reliable partnership with Air Berlin. NORD/LB has been one of the Air Berlin company banks since the early 90s and has already financed more than 30 aircraft for the airline. "Our longstanding business relationship with NORD/LB has become closer over time. We are delighted to be cooperating with NORD/LB in this financing project too," Joachim Hunold, Chairman of the Board of Management of Air Berlin, points out.

The financed aircraft are five Airbus A 319 aircraft and eight Boeing 737-700. The short-haul and medium-haul jets are to be delivered in the period from 2007 to 2011. Each aircraft seats 144 passengers. According to the price list the aircraft are worth a total of 657 million US dollars.

The NORD/LB portfolio currently has 581 aircraft, totalling around 5 billion euros, in addition to commitments which have not yet been taken up to the amount of two billion euros. The group of regular customers of the bank currently comprises more than 100 airlines. "As one of the main providers of aircraft loans, we will continue to benefit considerably from sustained strong growth on the aviation market," says Gunter Dunkel optimistically. Business potential is considerable, particularly on emerging markets such as China and India, as well as on the markets in South America, Eastern Europe and in the Middle East, where new orders are reaching record levels.

Air Berlin, founded as a charter airline with two aircraft in 1991, is currently the second-largest airline in Germany. In 2006 the company increased consolidated turnover by 29.4 percent to 1.58 billion euros. The Air Berlin fleet currently comprises 93 aircraft. "Until now we have been Germany's only hybrid carrier, utilising all of the sales channels possible and hence making the company more independent of seasonal fluctuations," Hunold explains. After taking over LTU, Air Berlin now offers its passengers domestic flights in Germany as well as European and intercontinental flights all from one source.