Eastar Jet Signs Aircraft Lease
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Eastar Jet Airlines, a low cost Korean carrier preparing for business, signed a contract Tuesday with Meritz Investment Bank to lease an aircraft.
The budget carrier inked the tripartite contract for the lease of a B737-600 aircraft with Meritz and Flyglobespan, a Scottish budget airline, at Seoul Plaza Hotel in downtown Seoul, Tuesday.
Eastar Chairman Ace Lee, Meritz International Bank President and CEO Kim Dong-hoon, and Flyglobespan Deputy Managing Director Karan Brown took part in the signing ceremony.
Meritz purchased the aircraft from Flyglobespan, and plans to launch an aircraft lease business, starting with Eastar. ``We will adopt five more planes within the next five years. We want to become a financing solution to budget airlines with the aircraft lease,'' Kim said.
After the lease, Eastar will apply to the aviation authority for its air operator's certificate in July for the start of operations in November.
``We've decided to adopt the jetliner, the next-generation model of the bestseller B737 series, to wipe out people's concern over the safety of new, budget carriers,'' Lee said. Budget airlines in Korea currently use turboprops, which have had several minor malfunctions raising concerns over safety.
The airline plans to start operations of its Seoul-Jeju, Cheongju-Jeju and Gunsan Jeju routes in November, and add the Seoul-Ulsan route during the first half of next year. International operations will likely be available in the latter half of 2009.
Eastar will lease one more 132-seat B737-600 by November. ``We aim to have a total of 20 planes by 2020 and become the best low cost carrier in Northeast Asia,'' Lee said.
Flyglobespan is an Edinburgh-based low cost carrier and a subsidiary of the Globespan Group, a tour operator.