Dr. Peters Group, the German fund manager which owns four A380-800s that Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) is due to return between October 2017 and June 2018, says it is currently considering various options as to what do with the aircraft once they come off lease.
Chief Executive Officer Anselm Gehling told Bloomberg in an interview that the firm is primarily scouting for new lessees for the jets. Prospective users include carriers in the United States and Europe where IAG International Airlines Group has previously expressed an interest in second-hand A380s for its British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) unit.
Aside from mainstream commercial carriers, Dr. Peters Group has also engaged Sparfell & Partners to seek potential VIP customers for the four aircraft. The Swiss reseller has touted the aircraft for use as Air Force One-style “head of state” transports.
Several parties are in talks with the firm over short two- to four-year leases needed to assess the A380 and its profitability. Should it prove viable, they may commit to five-year terms, Gehling said. Among the six potential operators of the jets is an unspecified Asian low-cost carrier looking to the A380s in a high-density 700-seat single-class configuration.
Another option Dr. Peters Group is considering is the parting out of the aircraft - msn 3, 5, 8, and 10 (owned by Dr. Peters Group unit DS Aviation and managed by Doric Asset Finance) - to recover their Rolls-Royce Trent 900s and other sundry parts valued at around USD100 million per aircraft. The parts market is seen as particularly lucrative given the lack of spares currently available for the A380 - the Trent 900 in particular. As such, the group may consider parting out the first one or two A380s returning while retaining the other two for future commercial placement, the CEO said.
