Warsaw,2012-11-06 — /travelprnews.com/ — Today at the Polish Embassy in Washington Marcin Piróg, CEO of LOT Polish Airlines, Fred Hochberg, Chairman & President of Export-Import Bank of the United States and Jon Byron, Vice-President of Apple Bank for Savings signed the agreement for financing of the first of five Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, covered by the export guarantee program. The aircraft will join the fleet of the Polish carrier already in mid-November this year. Thus LOT Polish Airlines completed the final stage of the process of aircraft purchase and obtained approvals necessary to receive relevant loan guarantees.
LOT Polish Airlines successfully completed the process of obtaining approval from the American export credit insurance agency – Export Import Bank of the United States (“US Ex-Im Bank”) regarding loan guarantees to finance the purchase of the first five new Boing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The Polish carrier was also completing the process of obtaining commercial financing connected with the abovementioned loan guarantees.
In cooperation with the London advisor DVB Bank SE Aviation Division, the company selected in the course of the request for proposal process and negotiations a commercial bank: Apple Bank for Savings of New York, collaborating with the financial institution and broker – KGS-Alpha Capital Markets, L.P. to finance the abovementioned transactions.
We are pleased that LOT Polish Airlines has been endowed with trust and support of US Ex-Im Bank as regards financing of Boeing 787 aircraft, and we are also satisfied due to preferential guarantee terms – says Marcin Piróg, CEO of LOT Polish Airlines. We have planned to sign financial documents on the day preceding the delivery of the first Dreamliner, which will land in Poland already in 10 days. Congratulations to the finance and legal team of LOT Polish Airlines for achievement of the set goals – adds Marcin Piróg.
Apple Bank for Savings zaoferował nam bardzo elastyczne warunki finansowania dla różnych scenariuszy strategicznych. Liczymy na owocną i satysfakcjonującą obie strony współpracę – powiedział wiceprezes Zbigniew Mazur, Członek Zarządu PLL LOT S.A. ds. Ekonomiczno-Finansowych. W celu dalszego obniżania kosztów finansowych, w niedalekiej przyszłości planujemy skorzystać z przedstawionych nam instrumentów opartych o emisję obligacji, tzw. „Ex-Im Bonds – dodał Zbigniew Mazur.
LOT Polish Airlines will be the first European carrier and one of the first airlines in the world that intends to use Ex-Im Bonds instrument in the scope of financing the purchase of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. To complete the transaction the Polish carrier will start cooperation with Apple Bank for Savings, with 149 years of history and unquestionable, high 5-star Bauer Financial rating for 12 years. For several years Apple Bank for Savings has been an active player on the financial market on the basis of guarantees of the export credit insurance agency – US Ex-Im Bank.
The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner will join the LOT fleet in 2012, and by the end of March the Polish carrier will be operating 5 copies of the most modern passenger aircraft in the world.
We would like to remind that as from mid-December this year Boeing 787 will fly in Europe for a month. Dreamliner will have its first flight across the Atlantic on 16 January 2013, and the next one to Toronto is scheduled for 1 February. Passengers flying to New York will have the first chance to fly aboard Dreamliner on 3 February, whereas Beijing will welcome Boeing 787 in the colours of LOT Polish Airlines one month later – on 3 March.
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