DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

AerCap Holdings N.V. (“AerCap”) (NYSE: AER) today announced it has signed a lease agreement for twenty new aircraft with Chinese carrier, Loong Air. The signing ceremony took place in Hangzhou between AerCap Chief Executive Officer, Aengus Kelly and Loong Air Chairman, Liu Qihong. This agreement represents the largest deal ever signed by a lessor with a Chinese private airline.

Chief Executive Officer Aengus Kelly of AerCap commented, "AerCap is delighted to partner with Loong Air by providing twenty aircraft to facilitate their dynamic expansion plans. With the growth prospects of Hangzhou and an excellent management team, the future is very bright for Loong Air. We wish the airline every success and look forward to a long and prosperous business relationship.”

Chairman of Loong Air, Mr. Liu Qihong, commented, “Loong Air is pleased to cooperate with AerCap. After three years of development and accumulation, Loong Air has become part of the Chinese aviation industry’s backbone, with clear strength in its business fundamentals and significant development potential. Hangzhou is accelerating its pace of becoming an international metropolis. The Hangzhou airport’s number of passenger throughput exceeded 30 million during December 2016, making it the fifth largest airport nationwide and one of the busiest in the world. The airport’s plan to expand further provides historical development opportunity for Loong Air, consistent with our aim to become better, bigger and stronger. The cooperation with AerCap is supportive of the speedy growth of Loong Air, allowing us to better service the Zhejiang economy. Following this successful beginning, we will look into further development need of the Hangzhou airport, and the potential to introduce wide-body aircraft for mid-to-long-range international routes. I look forward to entering into more transactions with AerCap that will benefit both parties.”

About Loong Air

Loong Air is the first and only airline of Zhenjiang province that provides integrated passenger and cargo transportation services from its base at the Hangzhou Xiaoshan airport. Loong Air is qualified and authorized to operate domestic and international passenger and cargo services. Since the inception on December 29, 2013 of its passenger services, its fleet has grown into 22 aircraft. It operates more than 100 routes of passenger and cargo services across China and Southeast Asia, 39 of which originate from Hangzhou.

About AerCap

AerCap is the global leader in aircraft leasing with, as of December 31, 2016, 1,566 owned, managed or on order aircraft in its portfolio. AerCap has one of the most attractive order books in the industry. AerCap serves approximately 200 customers in approximately 80 countries with comprehensive fleet solutions. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and has its headquarters in Dublin with offices in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Shannon, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Singapore, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Seattle and Toulouse.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements, estimates and forecasts with respect to future performance and events. These statements, estimates and forecasts are "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negatives thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate or correct. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future performance or events described in the forward-looking statements in this press release might not occur. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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