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Ireland home to several global leaders in aviation industry

AerCap, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, GECAS, Air Lease Corporation and Avolon are headquartered here

Many aviation firms are based in Ireland. Photograph: iStock
Many aviation firms are based in Ireland. Photograph: iStock

Several of the global leaders in the aviation industry are in Ireland. We look at five:

AerCap is a global leader in aircraft leasing, serving approximately 200 of the world's leading airlines across about 80 countries. With $42.1 billion (€36.9 billion) of assets, AerCap is funded by a robust long-term capital structure that produces strong earnings and cashflow generation. AerCap is the largest owner of commercial aircraft in the world and the most active aircraft trader.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) is headquartered in Dubai and with over 30 years in business, DAE's leasing and engineering divisions serves over 110 airline customers around the world from its seven locations in Dubai, Dublin, Singapore, New York, Miami, Seattle and Amman.

GECAS, or GE Capital Aviation Services, is an Irish-American commercial aviation financing and leasing company. It is a subsidiary of GE Capital, the finance arm of the large conglomerate, General Electric. One of the company's two global headquarters is located in Shannon, Co Clare, and the company has over 575 employees and 26 offices worldwide.

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Air Lease Corporation is an American aircraft-leasing company founded in 2010 and headed by Steven F. Udvar-Házy. As of the end of 2017, Air Lease reported that it owns 244 Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, and ATR aircraft, which it leases to over 91 airlines across 55 countries worldwide.

Avolon is an aircraft-leasing company based in Dublin and was founded in 2010 by Dómhnal Slattery, and a team from RBS Aviation Capital including John Higgins, Dick Forsberg, Tom Ashe, Andy Cronin, Simon Hanson and Ed Riley with initial capital of $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion).