Aircastle Appoints Ryusuke Konto and Gentaro Toya to its Board of Directors

STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Aircastle Limited (NYSE: AYR) (“Aircastle”) announced today the appointments of Ryusuke Konto and Gentaro Toya to the company’s Board of Directors, increasing the Board to 10 members.

The appointments follow the completion of the transaction on July 12, 2013 where Marubeni Corporation ("Marubeni’) acquired 12,320,000 common shares of Aircastle’s common stock at $17 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $209 million.

Mr. Konto serves as Chairman of Marubeni Aerospace Corporation which specializes in the import and supply of foreign products and parts for the aerospace and defense sectors in Japan. Mr. Konto has over 25 years of experience in the aviation industry and was Executive Officer of Marubeni Corporation from 2009 to 2011.

Mr. Toya is the Assistant Advisor to the President for the Transportation Machinery Division, Marubeni Corporation. With over 25 years of experience in the aviation industry, Mr. Toya served as Senior Operating Officer, Transportation Machinery Division from 2010 to 2012 and as Director, Aerospace & Defense Systems Unit from 2007 to 2009.

Ron Wainshal, Aircastle’s CEO, commented, “Both Mr. Konto and Mr. Toya possess considerable and wide-ranging experience in the global aerospace industry. They also embody Marubeni’s strategic approach to our business and its truly international orientation. We are very pleased they are joining our Board. I look forward to their insights and working together with them and their colleagues at Marubeni as partners to benefit from our organizations’ respective strengths.”