Ex-Im Approves Approximately $500 million to Finance Export of
Boeing Dreamliners to Poland
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
board of the Export-Import Bank of the
United States (Ex-Im Bank) authorized a comprehensive
guarantee of an approximately $500
million loan to Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. (LOT
Airlines) for the export of a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner
aircraft to Poland.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110414/MM83673LOGO)
Apple Bank for Savings of New
York extended the loan.
Boeing delivered the first Dreamliner to LOT Friday, Nov. 9 in Everett, Wash. The Dreamliner departed
Seattle yesterday and arrived in
Warsaw, Poland today. LOT will be
the first European airline to operate the Dreamliner, and it was
also the first European airline to operate the Boeing
767.
Ex-Im Bank's financing will
support approximately 2,500 U.S. jobs, according to bank estimates
derived from Departments of Commerce and Labor data and
methodology.
"This landmark transaction brings American state-of-the-art
aircraft to a competitive marketplace in Europe," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and
President Fred P. Hochberg. "By
leveling the playing field, the Bank's financing benefits business
in both America and Poland and
supports thousands of jobs in the U.S."
Founded in 1928, LOT became the first airline in Central and
Eastern Europe to operate
American-manufactured aircraft. It is also the only airline that
currently offers non-stop flights between the U.S. and Poland. The fleet of Dreamliners, which will
contribute to LOT's efforts to simplify, modernize, and upgrade its
operations, will continue LOT's non-stop North American service by
flying routes to Warsaw from
Chicago, New York, and Toronto.
"The Dreamliner delivery is yet another historic first for LOT,
already one of the world's oldest continuing airlines, as it
becomes the first airline in Europe to operate the 787," said Todd Nelp, vice president for European sales at
Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We're thankful that Poland's flag carrier puts its faith in
American aviation know-how, and that Ex-Im Bank is there to support
our customers who enable and sustain thousands of U.S. technology
jobs."
Nippon Export and Investment Insurance of Japan is co-financing the transaction.
As of the end of FY 2012, Ex-Im Bank's credit exposure in
Poland totaled $5.5 million.
ABOUT EX-IM BANK:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent
federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling
gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers.
In the past five years (from Fiscal Year 2008), Ex-Im Bank has
earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6
billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a
variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital
guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign
buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012
– an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than
$6.1 billion directly supporting
small-business export sales – also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an
estimated $50 billion in U.S. export
sales and approximately 255,000 American jobs in communities across
the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.
SOURCE Export-Import Bank of the
United States