The Difference Files: How ING financed two Airbus A350s for Turkish Airlines

In the latest episode of The Difference Files, our Wholesale Banking series about complex client transactions, we tell the story of how ING helped make this deal happen.

Teams in Türkiye, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the United States worked together to finance two Airbus A350 aircrafts. For Turkish Airlines, the process felt seamless. Behind the scenes, it took close coordination across countries and areas of expertise.

The best client experiences are often built on work clients never see.

For Turkish Airlines, financing two aircrafts meant bringing together investors, markets and specialist expertise from around the world. ING’s product, sector and relationship teams coordinated each part of the transaction. 

Hugo Kanters, global head of aviation at ING, explains what made the difference: 

Having the product teams, sector teams and relationship team move together hand in hand, step by step, and staying in sync with each other made the real difference.

That coordination gave Turkish Airlines one aligned financing process while ING managed the complexity behind the scenes. 

Aviation is emissions-intensive, and ING supports clients as the sector transitions. Fleet renewal is one part of that process. Opens in a new tabAirbus says the A350 uses 25% less fuel and produces 25% less carbon dioxide per seat than previous-generation aircraft. This transaction financed two of these newer aircraft. 

Across the sector, modernising fleets and increasing the use of sustainable aviation fuel are among the measures needed to reduce emissions. 

ING also assesses its aviation financing against the Opens in a new tabOpens a pdfPegasus Guidelines, a voluntary framework that helps financial institutions measure and disclose the emissions intensity and climate alignment of their aviation lending portfolios. 

This does not make the transaction green or sustainable. Instead, it shows how the financing aligns with ING’s approach to supporting progress in a sector that still requires significant effort to lower its emissions. 

The solution brought together teams in five countries, three currencies and several investor groups, all focused on making a complex transaction simple for the client.

That’s the ING difference.

Society is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. So are our clients, and so is ING. We finance a lot of sustainable activities, but we still finance more that’s not. See how we’re progressing on Opens in a new tabing.com/climate.