Jetrader - July/August 2013 - 9

our view as reﬂected in its judgment of 8
April. As we speak, we expect the DGAC to
comply shortly with the court order. The
experience was frustrating, however. Legally
everything was arranged as it should have
been from the start of the transaction.
When our counterparty repeatedly did
not fulﬁl contractual obligations, we took
control of the aircraft and—despite the
unfavorable market circumstances—we even
found a new user for the aircraft. Only
the refusal from DGAC to recognize our
rights prevented this from being almost a
textbook recovery operation.
JT: From a ﬁnancier’s point of view, what
aircraft types or categories do you prefer,
and which ones would you like to avoid?
Are there any aircraft types or categories
that have proven to be problematic in
the past?
BG: At present, our portfolio consists of
55 percent narrowbodied aircraft compared
to 30 percent widebodies. This obviously
displays our historical preference to ﬁnance
selected versions of the Airbus A320 and
the Boeing 737 families. Going forward, in
adherence with effective portfolio management and diversiﬁcation, it could be argued
that we should look to improve the balance
of this mix; however, we will continue to
provide innovative ﬁnancial solutions to a
wide variety of asset/credit combinations.
It is important to remain alert; yesterday’s
success stories can rapidly turn around.
With the upcoming generation changes,
this may be more relevant than ever before.
Experience from the past is no guarantee
for the future, and sometimes we wonder
how relatively inexperienced ﬁnanciers can
be so brave in terms of advance rates and
amortization proﬁle. Given the renowned
problems in the air cargo sector, the future
of freighter aircraft would be challenging
going forward, although a positive surprise
here cannot be excluded. In the regional
jet market, we believe the competition
amongst the manufacturers will heat up and
we operate very cautiously in that segment.
JT: Wolfgang, how do you see ISTAT as an
organization? DVB is generally well represented at ISTAT events. Are there any
other activities that you believe should
be undertaken by ISTAT?
WD: I have been visiting the ISTAT
meetings for the last 10 years in the

Americas, Europe and, if time permits,
also in Asia. Over this decade, the membership and the participation have grown
enormously and the ISTAT conferences have
developed into the premier meeting place
in our market segment, with all the relevant players in attendance. Despite that,
they have not developed, as perhaps other
aviation events, to a “see-and-be-seen
event” but continue to deliver the format
for talking business. ISTAT conferences—in
particular in the United States—may be at
risk of getting a little too big, but I don’t

think this is a real problem. As long as two
participants ﬁnd empty chairs to initiate a
deal, it will continue to be successful. We
also noticed that over the past years, ISTAT
has developed from a United States-centric
to a truly global organization. More efforts
to involve the Asian aviation community
may be a good thing. Other initiatives,
such as the ISTAT Chalet at the air shows
and the support of aviation students, are
also excellent.
JT: Wolfgang, Bertrand, thank you for
your time!

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