Aquila Air Capital

What Aquila Air Capital does

Aquila Air Capital is a privately held specialty aviation finance platform founded in April 2021 by CEO Al Wood with private equity sponsorship from Warburg Pincus and Kepler Hill Capital, and acquired by Wafra Inc. in December 2024. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with regional offices in Shannon (Ireland) and Fort Worth, Texas, and origination teams spanning the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific, Aquila provides operating leases, financing, and trading solutions for mid-to-late-life commercial aircraft and engines to passenger airlines, cargo operators and freight integrators, MROs, OEMs, and asset buyers and sellers. The platform holds a portfolio of 100+ aircraft and engine assets (including CF6-80C2, CF6-80E, GE90-115B, CFM56-5B/7B, PW4000, PW2000, RB211-525E4, and V2500 engine types) leased to 20+ operators, with 100% utilization and 78% of the lease book placed with investment-grade credits as of early 2024 and March 2025, respectively.

The platform is structured as a full-service specialty lessor combining capital with in-house technical and commercial capabilities: an in-house origination function (VPs of Origination for EMEA, Americas, and Asia Pacific), dedicated technical oversight (VP Technical and Technical Records Director) supporting airworthiness, regulatory compliance, and shop-visit management, and a Dublin-based Commercial Analysis & Pricing team that structures and prices complex transactions. Capital is sourced through a Deutsche Bank-led $200M term loan facility (upsized May 2024) and an ATLAS SP Partners (Apollo) warehouse facility supporting the Wafra-backed acquisition. Aquila has begun layering a 'thrust-selling' product on top of its metal-rental core — selling long-term, fixed-price engine thrust/cycles commitments to small-to-mid-sized airlines that lack the scale to manage their own engine MRO and spares pools. Pricing is bilateral and not publicly disclosed, but the company reports 30%+ lease-rate inflation on certain engine types since 2021 amid extended MRO turnaround times of 6+ months versus 60 days pre-Covid.

Revenue mechanics are a mix of recurring operating-lease rentals on the asset portfolio, transaction fees and spreads on financing facilities and aircraft/engine sales, and the emerging thrust-selling book. Customer acquisition is entirely direct, executed through VPs of Origination across three regions, CEO-led relationship management, and active participation at industry conferences including ISTAT, Airfinance Global, Aviation Week's ELTF, and Airline Economics Growth Frontiers. Distribution is exclusively direct — no intermediaries, marketplaces, or self-serve channels.

Name

Aquila Air Capital

Legal name

Aquila Air Capital

Website

https://aquilaaircapital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Aquila Air Capital is a Dublin-based specialty aviation finance platform that provides operating leases, financing, and trading solutions for mid-to-late-life commercial aircraft and engines to passenger airlines, cargo operators, MROs, and asset buyers and sellers globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Aircraft and Engine Operating Leases: Core revenue stream: operating leases of mid-to-late-life commercial aircraft and engines (widebody focus) to passenger airlines, cargo operators and integrators. Generates recurring lease rental income with utilization reported at 100%.
2. Aviation Asset Financing Facilities: Structuring and executing debt/financing facilities (e.g., Boeing 737-800 facility with Royal Aero) and term loan upsizings ($200M facility with Deutsche Bank), generating structuring fees, spreads, and ancillary services income.
3. Aircraft and Engine Trading / Sales: Secondary market trading of aircraft and engine assets, remarketing, and the emerging long-term 'thrust' capacity sales model that converts a portfolio of leased engines into committed thrust delivery for airline customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Aquila Air Capital is a full-service aircraft and engine leasing platform that purchases, finances, and leases mid-to-late-life commercial aircraft and engines (including CF6-80C2, CF6-80E, GE90-115B, CFM56-7B/5B, PW4000, PW2000, RB211-525E4 and V2500 types) to passenger airlines, cargo operators, freight integrators and MROs. It also structures aviation debt/financing facilities (term loans, credit facilities) and operates a secondary-market trading and remarketing business, plus an emerging long-term fixed-price thrust/cycle commitment service.

Product overview

Aquila Air Capital operates as a single, unified full-service aircraft and engine leasing platform — not a platform-plus-modules architecture — with in-house origination, lease management, and technical oversight. Its core offering, the Full-Service Aircraft and Engine Leasing Platform, encompasses complementary asset financing lines: Mid- to Late-Life Airframe Acquisition and Leasing and Greentime Engine Acquisition and Leasing, which together comprise the Midlife-to-Mature Engine Leasing Portfolio (covering CF6-80C2, CF6-80E, GE90-115B, CFM56-7B, CFM56-5B, PW4000, PW2000 and RB211-525E4 engines). On top of this core platform, Aquila layers the Thrust-Selling Service — a new commercial approach offering airlines long-term, fixed-price thrust commitments — and delivers specific airframe transactions such as the Boeing 737-800 Financing Facility (with Royal Aero) and the Boeing 757-200PCF Operating Lease (with Astral Airlines). Capital is sourced through the Term Loan Facility (Deutsche Bank-led, upsized to $200 million) and the Wafra-Backed Credit Facility from ATLAS SP Partners. The platform is backed by funds managed by Wafra Inc. and serves passenger airlines, cargo operators, and the MRO community globally from its Dublin and Fort Worth offices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aircraft and Engine Operating Leases Core recurring operating-lease product covering mid-to-late-life commercial aircraft and engines (widebody focus), delivered to passenger airlines, cargo operators, freight integrators and MROs across U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific and other markets. Portfolio reported at 100% utilization with 78% of leases placed with investment-grade credits.
• Thrust-Selling Service Long-term, fixed-price commitment of engine thrust (cycles/hours) under which Aquila owns the engines and delivers thrust at a pre-determined rate of cycles, taking airlines out of the engine ownership/MRO business. Targeted primarily at small-to-mid-sized airlines that lack scale to manage their own engine programs.
• Aircraft and Engine Trading / Sales Secondary-market trading, remarketing and asset sales of mid-to-late-life aircraft and engine assets, sourcing through bilateral deals and exploiting pricing dislocations (e.g., post-Covid freighter conversions, end-of-life supply).
• Aviation Asset Financing Facilities Structuring and execution of debt/financing facilities for aircraft and engine investments, including term loan facilities (originally $100M, upsized to $200M in May 2024 with Deutsche Bank as Sole Structuring Agent and Underwriter) and a warehouse credit facility from ATLAS SP Partners supporting Wafra's acquisition and growth funding.
• Wafra-Backed Credit Facility (ATLAS SP Partners) Credit facility provided by ATLAS SP Partners (warehouse finance and securitized products business majority-owned by Apollo funds) to support Wafra's December 2024 acquisition of Aquila and fund future portfolio growth.

Quantifiable outcome

• $600M+ of capital deployed since 2021
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Kirkland & Ellis LLPminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 16 December 2024Provided legal counsel to Aquila on the Wafra acquisition transaction that closed in December 2024.
• Sidley Austin LLPminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 16 December 2024Served as legal counsel to Wafra Inc. on the December 2024 acquisition of Aquila Air Capital from Warburg Pincus.
• EvercoreminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 16 December 2024Served as financial advisor to Aquila Air Capital on the Wafra acquisition transaction.
• Prosek PartnersminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 16 December 2024PR firm handling media enquiries on behalf of Wafra in connection with the Aquila acquisition announcement.
• ISTAT FoundationminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 10 March 2023Aquila was the exclusive sponsor of the ISTAT Foundation's Mentorship Program reception at ISTAT Americas 2023 in San Diego, with CEO Al Wood personally serving as a mentor.
• Royal AerominorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 February 2023Aquila executed a new financing facility involving three Boeing 737-800s with Royal Aero — the second financing between the two parties (the first having financed another three 737-800s the prior year). Partnered alongside Ashland Place Finance as advisor.
• Ashland Place FinanceminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 10 February 2023Advised on the new financing facility for three Boeing 737-800s between Aquila and Royal Aero; supports transaction structuring across Aquila's portfolio.
• McGuire WoodsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 10 February 2023Law firm that represented both Royal Aero and Aquila Air Capital on the 2023 financing facility for three Boeing 737-800s.
• SkyExec Capital JetsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2021Co-lessor alongside Aquila on the three Boeing 757-200PCF operating lease agreements with Astral Airlines delivered from November 2021.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• AerCap Holdings: The world's largest aircraft lessor with a broad portfolio spanning narrowbody, widebody, and engines. Comparable as a direct competitor in aviation asset leasing but operating at vastly greater scale and balance sheet capacity than Aquila.
• SMBC Aviation Capital: Top-tier global aircraft lessor owned by Sumitomo Mitsui; directly competes with Aquila in engine and aircraft leasing. Aquila's own Commercial Analysis & Pricing team hired from SMBC (Eoin Connaughton), making it a direct talent and product comparable.
• Avolon Aerospace Leasing: Major global aircraft lessor (owned by Bohai Leasing). Comparable in core aircraft and engine leasing activities, with greater scale, broader customer base, and deeper capital access than Aquila.

Direct peers

• Goshawk Aviation: Mid-life, narrowbody and widebody aircraft and engine lessor (now part of Nisshin Holdings). Highly comparable in target customer segment, mid-to-late-life asset focus, and global lessor model; Aquila's leadership team has direct prior experience at Goshawk.
• Willis Lease Finance: US-listed specialist engine leasing and trading firm focused on mid-to-late-life commercial engines. Aquila's Craig Shay joined from Willis Asset Management, indicating direct technical and product overlap in mature engine leasing and asset management.
• Jackson Square Aviation: Mid-sized global aircraft and engine lessor focused on narrowbody and widebody aircraft, with comparable customer base of passenger and cargo operators. Operates at a similar scale and asset mix to Aquila.
• ORIX Aviation: Aircraft and engine lessor (part of ORIX Corporation). Aquila's VP Originations EMEA (Matthew White) previously worked at ORIX in sales and lease placement, and the two share a similar focus on engine and airframe leasing to airlines globally.
• AerSale Aviation: Specialist in mid-life aircraft and engine leasing, trading, and MRO services. Directly comparable in engine aftermarket focus, and Aquila's Matthew White moved from AerSale to lead EMEA origination — indicating a closely overlapping business model.
• AMCK Aviation: Specialty aviation finance and leasing platform focused on mid-life aircraft and engine assets. Comparable in scale, customer base, and asset focus; Aquila's VP FP&A Martin Ryan joined from AMCK, confirming direct operational overlap.

Emerging players

• DVB Bank / DVB Aviation: Transport finance specialist providing aviation asset finance and leasing. Comparable as a capital partner and competitor in mid-life engine/aircraft financing, though with a more lending-oriented model than Aquila's origination-led leasing approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AquilaAir
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aquila-air-capital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aquila Air Capital