Rebecca is an aviation partner specialising in structured finance. She advises airlines, investment funds, and financial institutions on a range of aircraft finance and leasing transactions, including JOLCOs, ECA financing, operating leases, tax-enhanced structures, PDP financing, sale and leasebacks, French tax leases, Islamic finance, sub-leases, wet leases, and fuel and commodities hedging.
Rebecca’s expertise also includes commercial agreements, including aircraft purchase contracts, maintenance agreements, total care agreements, and restructuring and regulatory matters affecting airlines. In addition, Rebecca acts for UHNWIs on the acquisition, leasing and sale of corporate jet aircraft on cross-border transactions.
Rebecca has extensive experience in debt capital markets, and derivatives, acting for corporate clients on transactions involving general banking, commercial real estate finance, debt portfolio acquisitions and disposals, and a structured products including repos, total return swaps, credit default swaps, and interest rate, FX derivatives, IBOR and benchmark reform, and ISDA mechanics within finance loan documentation.
Quite a remarkable eye for detail!
The Legal 500 2024
A popular choice for clients on aircraft acquisition and leasing.
The Legal 500 2024
Expertise
- Aviation finance
- Structured finance
- Aircraft leasing
- JOLCOs
- ECA financing
- PDP financing
- Sale and leasebacks
- French tax leases
- Islamic finance
- Operating leases
- Sub-leases
- Wet leases
- Aircraft acquisitions
- Airline restructuring
- Aviation regulation
- Purchase agreements
- Maintenance contracts
- Total care agreements
Experience
- Advised on setting up a new British airline.
- Advised on setting up the UK operations of a Norwegian airline, negotiating the leasing, financing, security and regulatory elements including advising on data protection.
- Advised on the integration of a UK airline’s mainline and regional fleet (post-acquisition) of 29 aircraft into the fleet, including preparation of code sharing, wet and dry sub-leases, and the renegotiation of existing lease terms with lessors and financiers and the due diligence process resulting from acquisition.
- Advised on the sale and leasebacks, operating leases, debt financings, JOLCO financings, and wet leases in respect of the majority of the fleet.
- Advised on the sale and leaseback of 12 new Boeing 787-9 aircraft with a number of key lessors.
- Advised on the common terms agreement in respect of the lease of 12 IAE V2500 engines from Rolls-Royce and the related operating leases.
- Advised a major Spanish airline in relation to the sale and leaseback of 2 new Airbus A330 aircraft with a major lessor.
- Advised a major Spanish airline in relation to a JOLCO financing including purchase option of 2 new Airbus A320 CEO aircraft.
- Advised a major Spanish airline in relation to a JOLCO financing including purchase option of 2 new Airbus A350 aircraft.
- Advised a major Spanish airline in relation to the sale and leaseback of 30 new Airbus A320 CEO aircraft with a number of major lessors.
- Advised a major Spanish airline in relation to a JOLCO financing including purchase option of 3 new Airbus A320 CEO aircraft.
- Advised a major Spanish airline in relation to the novation of numerous Airbus A320 aircraft.
- Advised a major Spanish airline in relation to the repossession of an Airbus A320 Aircraft on sub-lease and associated debt recovery.
- Advised a major Spanish airline in relation to the recovery of security deposit from a European airline in respect of subleasing arrangements
- Advised a US-based lessor in respect of the acquisition from a JV of a Boeing 737-900ER aircraft on lease to an Indonesian airline and related financing conditions precedent and subsequent transfer of the aircraft to become the subject of an ABS financing structure.
- Advised a US-based lessor in respect of the acquisition from a major lessor of a Boeing 737-900ER aircraft on lease to an Indonesian airline.
- Advised a US-based lessor in respect of an aircraft and share sale agreement in respect of a Boeing 737-900ER aircraft on lease to an Indonesian airline and an Airbus A321-211 aircraft on lease to a Vietnamese airline and the shares in the respective lessor entities.
- Advised a US airline in relation to English law on the unwinding of an ECA financing of an Airbus A330-300 aircraft leased to a Canadian airline.
- Advised a major Asian airline in relation to English law on the different financing structures including a commercial loan with an option to convert to a capital market bond issuance, Japanese operating leases, French tax leases, and export credit facilities supported by the European Credit Agencies with a capital markets conversion option for 65 new aircraft.
- Advised the banks in respect of a £50bn multi-currency programme for issuance of asset-backed notes, including liquidity facility and hedging arrangements, in relation to an airport authority refinancing of certain major UK airports.
- Advised UK and German banks in respect of tax structured product transactions including note subscriptions, note purchase agreements, and capitalisation of a limited partnership.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Euromoney Experts Guide – Rising Star in Banking & Finance
Co-author of ‘A new north-west runway for Heathrow’ published on Lexology
Contributing author of ‘Aircraft maintenance – the regulatory framework’ published by Euromoney Expert Guides
Career
Rebecca qualified as a solicitor in 2004. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2025, she worked at the following firms:
- Stephenson Harwood
- Addleshaw Goddard
- Freshfields