Germantown aircraft lessor to buy 20 Airbus A330s

Jun. 22--A Germantown-based aviation leasing company has placed a $3.5 billion order with Airbus, wowing the crowd at the Paris Air Show and ratcheting up Airbus' competition with rival Boeing.

Intrepid Aviation Group LLC ordered 20 A330-200 freighters, which it will begin receiving in 2010.

"This plane offers additional payload, volume, range and the normal efficiencies that go along with newer aircraft," said Jim Selberg, Intrepid's chief financial officer.

Intrepid has contracted with Rolls Royce for 17 engines at an estimated cost of $1.6 billion.

Intrepid, formed in 1994, is a privately held aircraft lessor. Over the years, it has owned 42 commercial jets, including Boeing 727 and Airbus A300-600 and A310 aircraft. Until now, it has bought used planes and retrofitted them for cargo.

Intrepid said the financing will come from institutional investors and commercial banks. Its primary equity investor is Reservoir Capital in New York.

"We are very pleased to be a launch customer for the type, and we know that the performance will enhance both our reputation and that of Airbus as forward-thinking forces in the air freight industry," said Ron Anderson, Intrepid's chief executive officer.

Anderson is a longtime Memphis resident. At one time, he worked in plane purchasing at FedEx Corp.

His partners are Mike Goldberg, who started Aerolease International in 1986, and Bill Boisture, president of Gulfstream Aerospace from 1998 to 2003.

Intrepid intends to lease the planes to cargo airline customers around the world. Industry leases typically run seven to 10 years.

The two-engine A330 can carry as much as 64 metric tons of cargo over 4,000 miles, offering Intrepid's customers business opportunities in long-haul markets.

The fuselage is designed to carry a variety of pallet and container sizes for maximum efficiency, offering 30 percent more volume than other freighters, according to a statement from Intrepid.

Northwest Airlines began flying the passenger version of the plane last fall on its route between Memphis and Amsterdam, citing its efficiency and customer comfort.

FedEx Corp. has no A330s in its fleet.

"The A330 is not in our current fleet plans," said FedEx spokesman Maury Lane.

According to data in the 2005 Airline Fleet & Network Management magazine's list of aircraft lessors, Intrepid had one plane valued at $19.5 million.

It currently owns no planes.

Offices are located at 3106 Professional Plaza.

To see more of The Commercial Appeal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.commercialappeal.com. Copyright (c) 2007, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.