CFA to discuss freighter leasing in light of COVID-19

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the freighter aircraft leasing industry will be the central theme during Session 9 of the virtual edition of Cargo Facts Asia later this month.

In this session, scheduled for 08:45 a.m. China Standard Time (05:45 p.m. PST/8:45 p.m. EST/ 12:45 a.m. GMT) on Wednesday, April 22, we will be joined by Jerry Duan, Michael Steen, David Yu and Stefan Kageman.

Our panelists will discuss issues such as how the pandemic has affected feedstock availability; lease rate trends and expectations for the year ahead; and lessor involvement in the Asia Pacific airfreight market.

Duan is the chief operating officer of Xiamen Aircraft Leasing, which has so far leased over fifty mid-life passenger narrowbodies to various Chinese airlines and is considering entering the converted freighter market.

Yu is the chairman of China Aviation Valuation Advisors (CAVA) and its sister firms, Asia Aviation Valuation Advisors (AAVA) and Korea Aviation Valuation Advisors (KAVA). The only senior International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) certified aviation appraiser in China, Yu is also a professor of practice in finance at New York University in Shanghai (NYU Shanghai), a CFA charterholder and has a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Nottingham Business School.

Steen is the president and chief executive officer of Titan Aviation Leasing, the wholly owned dry-leasing subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings. He is also executive vice president of Atlas Air Worldwide. Steen joined Atlas Air in 2007, and has held leadership roles at DHL, Excel Plc and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Steen is currently part of the Cargo Committee of the International Air Transportation Association (IATA).

Kageman is senior vice president and head of aircraft marketing at Vx Capital, leading the remarketing and management of Vx Capital’s portfolio of aircraft and engines. He joined Vx in 2012 with more than fifteen years of aircraft trading and leasing experience, and has been instrumental in developing the firm’s freighter portfolio, which currently consists of more than forty 737-400Fs.

While Cargo Facts Asia 2020 will be a virtual event, the unparalleled networking and continuing education opportunities remain, with the best and brightest minds addressing the most pressing industry issues for Asia Pacific — including those around COVID-19. To register and for more information, visit www.cargofactsasia.com.