China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC) announced that it has entered into a sale-and-leaseback agreement with China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd. for a total of 10 Boeing B737-700 aircraft to support the carrier's fleet optimization.

The Hong Kong-based aircraft leasing company said in a statement that the planes are scheduled to be delivered no later than the end of June.

"CALC won a bid for two Boeing portfolios consisting of 10 old B737-700 aircraft aged 10-18 years from CSA via Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange through an open bidding process," it said.

It added that these aircraft will be transferred to the Group's associate China Aviation Aftermarket (CAAM) upon the end of the leases, leveraging its established mid-aged to end-of-life aircraft solutions to maximize the residual value of the assets.

This is another cooperation between CALC and CSA after an earlier transaction for two old-age A330 aircraft carried out in 2020 amid the pandemic, further deepening the long-term partnership between the two parties.

"CALC has been providing competitive fleet optimization solutions for major airlines for years and has also established a good track record in used aircraft transactions," commented Mike Poon, executive director, and chief executive officer of CALC.

"In the future, we will continue to reinforce our edges in aircraft asset management, increase the transaction volume of middle- and old-age commercial aircraft leased, transacted, and disassembled each year, and serve to improve the utility and asset value of the aircraft," Poon added.