Aircastle sold three Airbus A330-200F aircraft in the second quarter of this year to HNA Group, said the lessor's chief executive officer Ron Wainshal during a second-quarter earnings call today.

The aircraft were delivered new to Hong Kong Airlines under 12-year leases between September 2010 and July 2011.

The A330-200Fs were financed under an export credit agency- guaranteed transaction arranged by Citibank with support from the French export credit agency Compagnie Francaise d'Assurance pour le Commerce Exterieur (COFACE). The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi was also a participant in the financing.

Aircastle raised $69 million under each ECA transaction. The first aircraft closed at an interest rate of 2.645% per annum, the second at 2.685%. The remaining delivery was at a fixed rate between 3% and 3.1% in July 2011.

The lessor recorded $217 million in proceeds from the transaction and $14.7 million in earnings contribution. The interest, net expense reflects $5.8 million of non-cash finance charges and $3 million of loan breakage, says Aircastle.

According to Flightglobal's Ascend Online database, the three aircraft are MSNs 1051, 1062 and 1115.

Source: Commercial Aviation Online