Dragon Aviation Leasing: Order of Twelve New Airbus A320 Family Aircraft and US$200m Facility Closed With Export-Import Bank of China

Beijing, China – December 21st, 2007 – Dragon Aviation Leasing Company Limited (“Dragon Aviation Leasing”), the aircraft operating lease joint venture based in Beijing, today announced that it has arranged an agreement between Airbus and AerDragon Aviation Partners Limited (Shannon, Ireland) for a firm order of 12 Airbus A320 family aircraft, which is part of the 150 aircraft transaction agreed between Airbus and China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Corporation (“CASC”) in 2006.

Dragon Aviation Leasing has also arranged and closed a $200 million facility for the financing of the pre-delivery payments for all 12 aircraft with the Export-Import Bank of China.

Jean-Louis Chevrot, Chief Executive Officer of Dragon Aviation Leasing, commented on the transaction:

“This substantial order plays a key role in the joint venture’s plans to build up a fleet of $1 billion worth of aircraft over the next few years. The ongoing rapid economic development in China and other Asian countries is expected to drive continued demand for new, fuel-efficient narrowbody aircraft such as the A320 family for many years to come. China has only 0.8 passenger aircraft per million people, the rest of Asia Pacific 2.7 aircraft. This compares to 11 aircraft per million people in Western Europe and 26 in North America. These ratios highlight the enormous growth potential in China and other Asian countries, which are the key markets of our leasing venture.

Securing pre-delivery payment financing from the Export-Import Bank of China is another milestone for the Company and is also the first time a domestic Chinese bank has provided pre-delivery payment financing to an aircraft operating lessor. This is another reflection of the growing importance China is having in the international aviation sector. “

The aircraft leasing venture Dragon Aviation Leasing was established in late 2006 and arranged the acquisition of its first new Airbus A320 aircraft for AerDragon in February 2007.

To celebrate this first order of Airbus aircraft, Dragon aviation will sponsor the plantation of trees in Beijing helping to make the aviation industry greener.