Avolon Aerospace

Paul Geaney is a founder of Avolon Aerospace, one of the world’s largest aircraft leasing companies, which now has $31bn of assets and over 1,000 aircraft in its fleet or on order.

He holds the role of President and Chief Commercial Officer, guiding the company’s commercial strategy and leading the teams that manage its global customer and manufacturer relationships.

Paul was born in Blanchardstown in Dublin, and went to school at St Declan’s College in Cabra before completing a BA in Economics and Politics at Trinity College, Dublin.

He started his career in investment banking at Merrill Lynch in New York before returning to Dublin to join the fledgling aircraft leasing company RBS Aviation Capital. Following periods running private jet and yacht finance businesses for RBS and as a partner in private equity firm Claret Capital, Paul returned to his real love – aviation – and worked as part of a small team to start Avolon. Launched in 2010, the business was listed on the NYSE in 2014, in what was then the largest IPO of an Irish company on the exchange. The business was brought private again in 2016.

Earlier this year, Paul was presented with the Irish American Partnership’s Business Leadership Award in recognition of his contribution to Irish American business and to the global aircraft leasing industry.

Paul was on the Board of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) from 2019 to 2023 and led initiatives to create a global Rising Executives network and the Women@ISTAT programme to support women in gaining senior leadership roles in the industry.

His philanthropic work includes acting as a trustee of his beloved Celtic FC’s charitable foundation, and he remains involved in various initiatives with Trinity College. He has also actively promoted Avolon’s CARE philosophy of providing substantial support each year to a wide range of charities in communities in which Avolon and its customers operate, particularly in the developing world.