Ann: Acquisition of Additional 16 Embraer E190 Aircraft, page-8

My observations:

• Aircraft look to be a bit cheaper per air frame than the first batch of 14 from Copa Airlines, although not a straight-forward calculation given the differing quantities of spare engines and flight simulators and maybe different ages/number of cycles. Given the option over the additional 5 air frames from COPA won't be exercised, this indicates that the latest purchase is a better deal.
• Based on the Planespotter.com website data, the aircraft look to be between about 12 and 14 years old and are configured with 11 business class and 88 economy class seats. The AQZ announcement specifically mentioning the seating configuration suggests to me that they will be used for wet or dry lease to another airline rather than AQZ charter work.
• Does the announcement today indicate that a further announcement of a deal with Virgin is imminent? Hard to believe AQZ would commit to 30 new aircraft without some certainty on where they will fly, although at A$5m per aircraft they can be easily stored if necessary without to much financial pain.
• The additional A$85m of debt will put pressure on AQZ's future dividend payments. A small price to pay if they can get the 30 E190's flying profitably. I back management's judgement based on their track record.