Qatar Airways Group has signed its first Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option (JOLCO) financing transaction, covering three Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The agreement with HSBC and JP Lease Products & Services (JLPS) gives the airline access to Japanese aircraft-finance capital and forms the first part of a planned programme covering seven aircraft through three transactions.
HSBC is acting as debt arranger and sole lender for the initial deal, while JLPS is underwriting and arranging the JOLCO equity component. JLPS will also arrange equity across the wider programme, which represents Qatar Airways Group’s entry into Japan’s aircraft-financing market.
The structure combines Japanese investor equity and bank debt through a leasing entity that acquires the aircraft and leases them to Qatar Airways. The airline retains a purchase option at the end of the agreed lease term. The arrangement diversifies the group’s funding sources and broadens its investor base without changing its aircraft orderbook, routes or fleet deployment.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive Hamad Al-Khater described the JOLCO market as a long-term financing source for future fleet investments. JLPS president and chief executive Teiji Ishikawa characterised the transaction as the start of a longer-term programme involving Japanese investors. Qatar Airways has not disclosed the transaction value, lease term, financing ratios, option price or the aircraft models covered by the remaining two agreements.