Two senior Aviation Finance appointments at PwC Ireland

13 January, 2023

PwC Ireland is delighted to announce two senior appointments in its Aviation Finance Practice.

Paul Sheridan joins to lead the Aviation Finance Advisory Services (AFAS) team and will build on the success that the AFAS team has had to date in establishing PwC as a leader in aviation finance advisory. He will bring his extensive and varied experience to support and advise PwC's clients across all aspects of aviation. 

Stephanie Loughnane joins the PwC Ireland Consulting practice as an Aviation Finance Director and will work closely with Paul and the broader aviation finance team to support industry stakeholders focused on strategic, operational and technological change.

Pictured (far left) Stephanie Loughnane, and (far right) Paul Sheridan with Yvonne Thompson, Aviation Finance Leader and Brian Leonard, Aviation Finance Partner.

Speaking about the appointments, Colum Carr, PwC's current AFAS Leader commented: “I am delighted to see continued development in our Aviation Finance practice with these two key appointments. Paul is the ideal person to lead our AFAS team and I look forward to working with him, Stephanie and the team going forward.”

Yvonne Thompson, PwC Ireland’s Aviation Finance Leader, said: "These are strategic appointments for PwC Ireland and its Aviation Finance practice. Both Paul and Stephanie will be instrumental in leading and expanding our practice and helping our aviation clients grow and transform their businesses for a sustainable future. We welcome them to the firm and are excited to be working with them. Colum has been fundamental to the growth and success of our Aviation Finance practice but has decided to step back from his role as leader of the AFAS team. We are delighted that he has agreed to continue working with us in a consulting role, focused on transaction origination and execution as we continue to develop our Aviation Finance practice.”


Notes to editors

About Paul Sheridan

Paul is an accomplished industry leader with over 20 years' aviation and finance experience including leasing, asset management, banking, consultancy and airlines in Dublin, London and Hong Kong. 

Paul started his career in Aer Lingus before moving to RBS Aviation Capital’s Investor Markets team where he worked on debt syndication, structured finance and aircraft trading. He subsequently worked in commercial banking for ANZ and ING with a focus on asset management, infrastructure finance and aircraft finance. In 2010 Paul joined Ascend as Head of Risk Advisory and in January 2012 he moved to Hong Kong to set up and head Ascend’s Asia-based consultancy team. He returned to Dublin in 2015 to set up the Accipiter platform and was appointed CEO in 2016, a position he held until the company's sale to Carlyle Aviation Partners in 2022. While at Accipiter he managed the company from startup to a lessor of 150 owned and committed aircraft and led the merger with the MCAP platform to create AMCK Aviation in 2019. 

About Stephanie Loughnane

Stephanie has extensive experience in the aircraft leasing sector, having worked in and consulted for aircraft lessors in both Ireland and the US. Stephanie has advised lessors on mergers and acquisitions, technological change and implementation and large-scale operational transformation.  

Most recently, Stephanie worked as Head of Customer Operations and Technology at Avolon, with overall responsibility for driving strategic, operational and technological change. Stephanie is a qualified Chartered Accountant, Tax Advisor and Project Manager and holds a Masters of Accounting from National University of Ireland, Galway.

About PwC Aviation Finance Advisory Services ('AFAS')

The PwC Aviation Finance Advisory Services ("AFAS") team strategically guides and supports stakeholders throughout the entirety of a deal cycle across all aspects of commercial aviation. The AFAS team comprises highly experienced aviation specialists who have worked exclusively in the aircraft finance sector as financiers, appraisers and advisors to airlines, lessors, investors, banks, manufacturers and governments. It sits as a core part of PwC Ireland’s wider Aviation Finance practice which delivers assurance, tax and advisory services with an unrivalled aviation industry expertise and focus.

Contact us

Johanna Dehaene

Corporate Communications, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

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