In recent years, Ireland has grown to be the lead aviation hub in Europe. Aircraft leasing is now worth more than €500m to Ireland's economy and supports almost 5,000 jobs.* Major Chinese aircraft lessors, financiers and arrangers have established operations in Ireland and more than 1,100 Chinese-owned aircraft are managed from Dublin, about a quarter of the 4,300-strong global leasing fleet are in Ireland.

Here are the 5 key reasons Ireland is attracting aviation companies and in particular from China:

1. Our taxation regimes: Irelands' taxation regime provides for a stable and competitive headline rate of corporation tax and a tax depreciation write-off period of eight years. There is also an extensive network of double taxation treaties with 74 countries currently in effect.

2. Ireland's low risk profile: Ireland is considered less risky than other countries and is considered by many leading Chinese aviation companies to deliver a more stable return on investment.

3. Legacy experience: Ireland has been involved in the industry for over 40 years since the foundation of Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA) in the 1970's. This has helped cement the country's position as the top global destination for aviation leasing companies.

4. Availability of specialist education programmes in aviation finance: Specialist aviation programmes at UCD's Smurfit Business School and University of Limerick provide a steady flow of talent for firms operating here.

5. Highly skilled workforce: Ireland boasts a deep, multi-disciplinary skills market across technical, legal and financial skill sets.

At GKR we are one of the leading recruiters for the aircraft leasing sector in Ireland. To find out more, speak to a member of our dedicated aircraft leasing team or you can check out our latest vacancies here.

* Source: PwC's Taking Flight 2018 report. https://www.pwc.ie/publications/2018/taking-flight-2018-aviation-leasing-ireland-survey.pdf

Over recent years, Ireland has become one of the leading hubs for the aircraft leasing sector globally. Fiona McCabe, Head of Investment Management at IDA Ireland, believes Ireland is now the “the major hub for China’s aircraft leasing market”

Here are some facts and figures about the past, present and future of the aviation business in Ireland that have contributed to both its success to date and a promising future ahead.

Fact 1: Ireland has a 40 year involvement in the industry. Ireland became an early player in global aircraft leasing with the foundation of Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA) in the 1970’s by Aer Lingus and the Guinness Peat Group. This has helped cement the country’s position as the top global destination for aviation leasing companies.

Fact 2: Major players in the industry have established operations in Ireland. Today, most of the world’s major aircraft lessors, financiers and arrangers have established Irish operations from which they finance and lease aircrafts on a global basis. It’s seen as one of the great Irish economic success stories and a key contributor to the Irish economy.

Fact 3: Sector growth has had a positive knock-on effect on large professional service firms . The volume of market activity being managed from Ireland has grown so much that most of the large professional services firms in Ireland – legal, financial and technical – have dedicated teams to support the aviation leasing sector.

Fact 4: Ireland’s plays host to the two largest global aviation finance conferences each year. Ireland’s standing as the primary location for aircraft leasing firms is further evidenced by the annual hosting of the two largest global aviation finance conferences, attracting over 3,000 international delegates to Dublin each year.

Fact 5: The stock of leased aircraft increased from €27.4bn in 2007 to €77.5bn in 2014, with the largest growth, over €30bn (65%), recorded in 2014 following the arrival of new entrants in the sector. (source: CSO)

Fact 6: Much of the growth in the aircraft leasing industry comes from the emerging Asia-Pac Region – China in particular – which is expected to overtake the US as the world’s largest aviation market by 2024.

Fact 7: In July 2018, a new IBEC-affiliated industry body, Aircraft Leasing Ireland (ALI) , was launched in Dublin. The group has 17 members, including four of the world’s largest aircraft lessors, Aercap, Avalon, GECAS and SMBC Aviation Capital.

Fact 8: ALI is looking to extend the Republic’s 74 tax treaties. To ensure Ireland can maintain its market position, ALI is looking for Government to extend the Republic’s 74 existing tax treaties to countries such as Argentina, Indonesia, and Japan, where there is high demand for new aircraft.

Fact 9: Brexit impact in the UK may attract more lessors to Ireland What seems likely is that Brexit will give rise to more challenging regulatory or trading conditions for UK based companies which, given the global nature of the industry, could see lessors relocate to the Irish market.

Fact 10: Continued growth is projected to contribute a further €3 billion to the Irish economy over the next five years. The air transport sector has doubled in size every 15 years and is set to continue to expand, potentially at an even faster rate.

At GKR we are one of the leading recruiters for the aircraft leasing sector in Ireland. To find out more, speak to a member of our dedicated aircraft leasing team or you can check out all our latest vacancies here

Louise has been with GKR since 2005. She has over 20 years’ recruitment agency experience and an additional 5 years’ in-house recruitment/HR experience from Oracle in Dublin. Louise has a Degree in HR and Accountancy and is a Chartered member of the CIPD.

Contact louise.callanan@gkr.ie

Tel +353 16769008

Garret has over 22 years’ recruitment experience across a range of sectors including aircraft leasing, airlines, commercial asset finance companies, corporate finance and technology. Garret has recently filled a number of senior leasing positions including a CFO, CIO, CLO and EMEA Head of Sales. He has worked exclusively in recruitment and graduated from UCD with a BA in Psychology and Statistics.

Contact garret.kearney@gkr.ie

Tel +35316768891