O impacto da pandemia nos lessors, o papel do leasing de aeronaves na mitigação dos efeitos da pandemia no mercado internacional e lições para atuação do BNDES

Abstract

International aircraft leasing has played an important role in the recovery of airlines following the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Even at its acute phase in 2020, with air traffic severely reduced, most lessors received considerable funding with little to no changes in financial costs. Aircraft lessors in general present better credit risk ratings than airlines, with leasing being more appealing than bank financing or capital markets. This paper explains and discusses the reasons which led aircraft lessors to perform a prominent role in the recovery of the global air transport sector. For the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) as the Brazilian Export Credit Agency (ECA), export financing for national aircraft being increasingly directed to lessors seems the desired path ahead to maintain the flow of exports of high value-added and technology-intensive products and, at the same time, reduce the credit risk involved.