ISTAT in Istanbul: Highlights from ISTAT Europe 2014

With close to 1,100 delegates attending ISTAT Europe in Istanbul, this 2014 European gathering was the biggest in ISTAT history and is testimony to the value that members place on their membership of this organization. The event took place from 21-23 September at the Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus. There were broad cross-sections of delegates from banks, leasing companies, law firms, MROs, airlines, aviation training establishments, remarketing and trading companies, data-providers, appraisers, manufacturers, and representatives of aviation publications. Whatever your interest in this great industry, there were strong reasons to be at ISTAT Europe in order to connect, listen to expert presentations, network and generally find out about developments across the industry.

The mood amongst the delegates was upbeat, positive and forward-looking. The conference sessions covered a wide range of topics and allowed for attendees to hear the latest developments from key personnel within those particular sub-sectors of the aviation industry.

 

This session was the usual combination of light-hearted banter between Airbus (represented by John Leahy) and Boeing (represented by Randy Tinseth). This session is a regular on the ISTAT conference agenda and rightly so too. It always attracts a large number of delegates because of the style of the presentations and the obvious importance of hearing the thoughts of the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers.

Delegates heard of the demand for both manufacturers’ new products driven on the Airbus side by the A320neo, A330neo and A350 and on the Boeing side by B737MAX, B777X and B787 models. Both airlines had significant backlogs of more than 5,500 aircraft of which most of these came from the manufacturers’ narrowbody offering. Both Airbus and Boeing spoke of improving production rates with the aim of constructing around 600 narrowbodies per year for each company.

This session took place on the morning of the second day and was very interesting as well as quite light-hearted. The session saw Robert Agnew (mba), Bill Cumberlidge (KV Aviation), John Leech (GMT Republic), Crispin Maunder (Lease Corporation International), Abdol Moabery (GA Telesis) and Jep Thornton (Aerolease Aviation) discussing various debating questions put to them by the moderator Mary Prettyman (Airbus). These covered topics such as the future trend in aircraft seating capacity and the economic life of aircraft, to name just a couple. The format was simple enough. Put up a question on the screens and have the audience vote. Then let the six panelists debate either for or against, as decided by the moderator. At the end of the debate, repose the question to the audience and see if there had been any shift in opinions.

This was also a well-attended session, with each of the five panelists being asked to comment on valuation trends of a particular aircraft type and model. The range of opinions was interesting as was some of the audience polling with, in particular, the results of one question suggesting that members would like to see more consistency across the appraisers about valuations with much less divergence on a given aircraft type. The session was moderated by Paul Da Vall of DVB Bank. 

As always at ISTAT conferences, the biggest crowd of the three days is reserved for the Lessors Panel. This is due, in no small part, to the quality of the panel. In Istanbul it included industry icon, Steven Udvar-Hazy (ALC) along with Peter Barrett (SMBC), Kieran Corr (Standard Chartered) and Philip Scruggs (AerCap). The discussion, moderated by Jeff Knittel (CIT), was fascinating, informative and of great interest to the conference.

Trends across the leasing industry were discussed along with preferred types, credit and anticipated future trends in terms of aircraft types, market growth and regional development. Overall, it was an excellent session and one which allowed the formal part of the conference to finish very much on a high.

As ever, at ISTAT events around the world, the networking opportunities were excellent. There was the Welcome Reception on the Sunday night at the Hilton Bosphorus Hotel, the Cocktail Reception on the hotel terrace on the Monday evening and then the Gala Dinner at the incredible 1001 Columns Cistern in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul. Built in the 5th century, the former subterranean reservoir was a stunning location for the final night get together and greatly enjoyed by all those that attended.

This is the third of ISTAT's three major events in 2014, following ISTAT Americas and ISTAT Asia, earlier this year. ISTAT Americas also saw record-breaking attendance.

"The growth in ISTAT events, as well as the society in general, is representative of what's happening within the marketplace," says ISTAT Treasurer and Europe Co-chairman, Douglas W. Runte of Deutsche Bank. "For the past several years, ISTAT has seen steady growth in event attendance and the trend is accelerating."

Istanbul was a fantastic location for this year’s ISTAT Europe conference. Attendees seemed very positive about their conference experience, and it was good to note that 25 percent of delegates were first-time attendees at ISTAT Europe. There was overwhelming support for the conference from delegates during the final questionnaire session at the end of the conference, and members are now looking forward to reconvening at ISTAT Europe in October 2015 in Prague.