Aircraft leasing and financing company Hong Kong Aviation has appointed Mathis Shinnick as its CEO with effect from 1 May.

Shinnick will be the first CEO of the company, which was formed in 2009 with a group of investors including China's HNA Group, China Development Bank and New York-based Bravia Capital Partners.

Prior to his appointment, Shinnick was the global head of transportation at HSH-Nordbank AG, which is headquartered in Germany.

"Mr Shinnick's 20 years of experience in the transportation sector will help us achieve our long-term objective of deploying significant capital in transportation-related assets," says Adam Tan, executive director of HNA Group and chairman of Hong Kong Aviation.

Shinnick will be based in Hong Kong, says the company. Before he joined HSH-Nordbank AG, he was head of transportation at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance, adds the firm.

Hong Kong Aviation plans to expand its workforce over the next 12 months, it says.

"The firm recently secured a portfolio of nearly $3 billion in assets by completing its acquisition of Allco Aviation in early January 2010," it adds. As part of this acquisition, it will retain the entire existing management team of Allco, it says.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news