Full Profile
Mark's experience extends for over 20 years and includes loan and lease financing, operating leases and tax-based leases, export credit finance, and aircraft trading, in a wide variety of jurisdictions. Mark is very active in the business jet market (acting for banks, owners and operators). Mark's Finance team won Airline Economics - Law Firm of the Year in 2016.
Mark also has extensive aviation regulatory experience.
Mark is recognised as a leading aviation/asset finance practitioner in the UK directories. Who's Who Legal Aviation has commented that Mark is an "exceptional finance lawyer with extensive knowledge of both the commercial airline and business jet market" and lists him as a global Thought Leader for aircraft finance.
Mark is contributing editor of the annual publication "Getting the Deal Through - Aviation Finance and Leasing" and co-editor of "Getting the Deal Through - Air Transport".
Mark is a Guest Lecturer in aircraft finance at the International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University.
Mark is recognised as a Thought Leader in Who's Who Legal 2020: Global Elite 2020 - Aviation.
Experience
Finance and Leasing
- Acting for Turkish Airlines on multiple tax-based finance leases and operating leases, including CACIB-arranged French tax lease financing of one (1) Boeing 777-F aircraft with ICBC put option (Airline Economics Lease Deal of the Year 2018) and the first AFIC and Balthazar supported transactions for the airline
- Acting for Royal Air Maroc on AFIC-supported French tax lease financing of one (1) Boeing 737-MAX-8 aircraft and one (1) Boeing 787-9 aircraft (Global Transport Finance 2018 Aircraft Tax Lease of the Year and Airline Economics Aviation 100 Middle East & Africa Editor’s Deal of the Year)
- Assisting Wizz Air in establishing Wizz UK and leasing the first A320 aircraft into the new UK airline
- Acting for Air Baltic on its purchase of up to 50 A220-300 (formerly CS300) aircraft including Pratt& Whitney PW1000G engine warranty support; acting on the EDC financing of the first deliveries, including the first CS300 to be delivered to the airline as launch customer in November 2016; and acting on subsequent sale and leasebacks, including for the sale and leaseback of two A220-300 aircraft with Avation plc (AirFinance Journal Operating Lease Deal of the Year 2018)
- Successfully defending the holding company of Alitalia in $250million English Commercial Court litigation relating to the leasing from APFL of up to 13 A320 aircraft
- Acting for AerFin on the purchase from Saudia of 15 Embraer E170-100LR aircraft, and numerous other aircraft trading projects
Re-fleeting
- Advising Flynas on purchase of up to 80 A320neo aircraft including its engine procurement from and maintenance with CFM
- Acting for Aegean Airlines on $5 billion purchase of up to 42 A320neo aircraft
- Advising a Korean start-up low cost carrier on the acquisition of 8 Airbus A320 aircraft and procurement of engines from CFM
- Advising a number of airlines on issues arising from delays in delivery of CSeries aircraft
- Advising on issues relating to the grounding of 737 Max aircraft
Business Jets
- Mark is ranked as a Band 1 individual in Private Aircraft (Global-wide) in Chambers High Net Worth; Spear's Magazine describes Mark as an "eminence grise" of business aviation
- Acting for major international private wealth bank on a large number of business jet financings over 15 years
- Advising owners and operators in numerous business jet transactions
- Acted on first AFIC supported business jet financing (for a G650)
- Mark led the team which wrote an extensive report for the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) on the legal implications of Brexit for business aviation (February 2018)
Regulatory
- Advising on numerous ownership and control issues for commercial airlines and business jet and helicopter operators
- Extensive advice on the EU ETS
- Court of Justice of the European Union case on "Sixth Freedom" traffic rights
- Slots trading, including sale on behalf of Kenya Airways and Air France of a pair of Heathrow slots to Oman Air, for the largest price paid for slots (US$75million)
- Assisted study on the potential benefits of a possible comprehensive aviation agreement between the EU and 10 ASEAN countries, and also a safety agreement with China
- Advised the Africa Development Bank and other African organisation on the implementation of African Open Skies (Yamoussoukro Decision)
- Assisted a study into opening aviation markets with the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council
