TrueNoord, the specialist regional aircraft lessor, has placed two more new ATR 72-600 aircraft on long-term operating leases with expanding Bangladeshi domestic and international operator, US-Bangla. The aircraft have been financed by Citibank, Société Générale and Royal Bank of Canada under TrueNoord’s revolving warehouse facility. Milbank represented TrueNoord and Clifford Chance advised the banks on the financing side of the transaction.
These new aircraft supplement the recently re-marketed ATR72-600 which TrueNoord transitioned from Air France HOP! in October and bring TrueNoord’s total fleet placed with US-Bangla to three ATRs. This aircraft type now shapes the backbone of the airline’s modern regional fleet.
Anne-Bart Tieleman, CEO TrueNoord says “We are delighted to further support US-Bangla’s fleet modernisation programme. Our recent deliveries to them form part of a growing footprint for TrueNoord across the Indian sub-Continent. We are currently working on a variety of transactions where the flexibility and operational route expansion opportunities provided by regional aircraft suit the growth ambitions of several airlines. These two turboprops increase our number to fourteen ATRs out of an aggregate fleet of 48 regional aircraft operating worldwide.”
Mohammed Abdullah Al Mamun, Managing Director of US-Bangla Airlines remarks “These new-vintage ATR72-600s are needed to meet the growing demand for domestic travel across our route network. We are very pleased to work with TrueNoord as a specialist lessor in the regional sector – their expertise with turboprop aircraft perfectly complements our business strategy.”
Headquartered in Dhaka and flying to sixteen destinations, US-Bangla has a long history of operating regional aircraft across their domestic skies. Currently their network covers eight cities: Dhaka, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Jashore, Sylhet, Saidpur, Rajshahi and Barishal. TrueNoord is proud to support their fleet up-grade programme and work with them to develop extra capacity for an increasingly buoyant local market
Carst Lindeboom, Sales Director Asia Pacific –True Noord, adds that the Company is seeing significant growth across all parts of Asia, and as air travel becomes more affordable and the regional airport infrastructure expands, this increase is set to continue. “The economic and logistical benefits of turboprop aircraft provide the best solution where local geography is inhospitable and shorter runways are commonplace. TrueNoord’s portfolio of turboprops is operating across India, Bangladesh and South East Asia improving connectivity and commerce.”
