Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) has announced that it will retire all thirty-one of its A319-100s by the end of 2025, having signed an agreement to sell 29 owned aircraft to Gryphon Trading Company, a subsidiary of Gryphon Aviation Leasing.
The ultra-low-cost carrier said in a stock market filing that the sale to Gryphon would net between USD152 million and USD201 million, depending on price adjustments specified in the agreement but not disclosed publicly. Redeliveries to the lessor will begin in the first quarter of 2023 and will conclude in the third quarter of 2024. Spirit Airlines said it would retire fourteen A319s in 2023 and fifteen in 2024. The aircraft will be financed by Aviator Capital Management through Aviator Capital Fund V.
The final two aircraft, which are leased from Carlyle Aviation Partners, will be returned at the end of their leases in 2025.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Spirit's fleet of A319s is 16.4 years old on average. The two leased aircraft are the youngest ones, at 12.5 years of age each. The vast majority of the aircraft have been operated by Spirit since new, except for three owned aircraft bought second-hand from Windjet and the two leased units, which were previously operated by Volaris.
Spirit Airlines has a firm order with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for thirty-one A319-100Ns but has not disclosed their expected delivery timeline. The ULCC is one of just four confirmed customers for the type, and the only one outside of China. The ULCC's fleet also comprises sixty-four A320-200s, sixty-nine A320-200Ns (with fifty more on order), and thirty A321-200s. It has a firm order for forty-one A321-200Ns.
"We are excited to add these twenty-nine A319s to our fleet, which will help us meet the increasing demand for International Aero Engines V2500 overhauls and A320 family parts support," Chief Executive of Gryphon Steven Patch said.
