Avolon opens global headquarters in Ballsbridge

Aircraft-leasing company says facility will house most of its 250 global workforce

Fine Gael TD Kate O’Connell with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar; John Higgins, president and chief commericial officer of Avolon; and Dómhnal Slattery, chief executive of Avolon, pictured at the opening. Photograph: Robbie Reynolds
Fine Gael TD Kate O’Connell with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar; John Higgins, president and chief commericial officer of Avolon; and Dómhnal Slattery, chief executive of Avolon, pictured at the opening. Photograph: Robbie Reynolds

Aircraft-leasing company Avolon has opened a new global headquarters in Ballsbridge, Dublin.

The majority of the company’s 250 global workforce will now occupy over 6,967sq m (75,000sq ft) of office space. It includes a 371sq m (4,000 sq ft) cafe with panoramic views of Dublin city, a dedicated “wellness and learning and development centre”, and an auditorium.

Avolon chief executive Dómhnal Slattery said it was “an exciting time” for the company. “Over a relatively short period of time, Avolon has grown into one of the leading aircraft lessors in the world,” he said.

Extremely proud

“Our new state of the art office at Number One Ballsbridge reflects the scale of our ambition and represents another step towards achieving our objective of becoming the number one global lessor.”

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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar opened the facility on Monday. "I am extremely proud of our unique aviation heritage, and the important role the aviation sector plays in the Irish economy," he said.

Mr Varadkar said aircraft leasing would be an “important focus” of Minister of State for Financial Services Michael D’Arcy’s work “as we develop a new strategy for the international financial services sector”.

“Travelling the world, I know when looking to the skies that four out of every 10 aircraft are owned or managed from Ireland,” he added.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter