Financial leasing adds a "new wing" to the airport (picture)

The picture shows customs officers conducting on-site supervision of leased aircraft under financing. Photo by Jie Xiaoyu

Recently, a brand new Airbus A321 aircraft landed smoothly at Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport. Customs officers who were already waiting on site quickly boarded to carry out supervision operations and immediately processed the fast clearance and release procedures for it. This is the first inbound aircraft delivered under customs supervision at Qingdao Jiaodong Airport in 2026.

It is reported that the aircraft was introduced from Germany by Qingdao Airlines Co., Ltd. through a financing lease with a lease term of 12 years, and will be used for civil aviation passenger transportation. Financial leasing is an important aircraft introduction model, in which airlines pay rent on schedule during the lease period, effectively reducing the huge financial burden of one-time aircraft purchases for enterprises, optimizing asset structure, and helping airlines flexibly expand their capacity.

For us, the biggest advantage of aircraft financing leasing is' stress relief '. We don't have to spend a large amount of purchase money at once, freeing up cash flow and flexibly using it to develop new routes and optimize services, "said Wang Shuai, Manager of the Maintenance Engineering Department of Qingdao Airlines Co., Ltd.

To ensure efficient customs clearance of leased aircraft, Qingdao Jiaodong Airport Customs intervened in advance, tailored regulatory service plans, assigned dedicated personnel to connect with enterprises, and effectively compressed the preparation time before customs clearance by reviewing enterprise declaration materials in advance and accurately calculating guarantee amounts.

At the same time, this aircraft adopts a remote entrusted supervision mode. Qingdao Jiaodong Airport Customs actively strengthens cross customs cooperation and deepens the linkage and cooperation with Tianjin Dongjiang Customs on "remote entrusted supervision". Leased aircraft registered in Tianjin Dongjiang Comprehensive Bonded Zone can directly reach Qingdao Airlines' Qingdao base without the need to transfer aircraft to the destination after entering Tianjin Dongjiang Comprehensive Bonded Zone, significantly reducing the operating costs of the enterprise.

Sun Xuelei, the head of the Customs Clearance Department at Qingdao Jiaodong Airport, introduced that the customs continue to focus on the development needs of the aviation industry and continuously optimize regulatory service processes in key areas such as financing leasing and aviation material support. In the future, we will continue to deepen the reform of customs clearance facilitation, fully ensure the stability and smoothness of the supply chain, and provide strong support for promoting the stability and quality improvement of foreign trade at ports and supporting the high-quality development of the aviation industry. (Chen Yuwei/Text)