The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) launched a new brokerage venture yesterday aimed at matching its members who require aircraft financing with lenders. It will also help facilitate member loans for avionics updates, either through straight loans using the aircraft as collateral when it is fully owned, or through refinancing of the aircraft while it is still being paid off.
Though the association has been providing a similar service using a single lender for the past two decades, the new AOPA Aviation Finance (AAF) company will work with a syndicate of financiers to find the one best suited for the particular aircraft transaction.
According to AAF president Adam Meredith, financing won’t be just for piston aircraft. “We’ve got a number of members who are in turbine aircraft as well, so it really runs the gamut from kits, experimental and early-model aircraft all the way up to turboprops and jets,” he told AIN, adding that he expects the new business could broker as many as 1,000 loans a year.