Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew M
I would have thought finance would have been sorted out long before the plane was basically finished 
One would ASSUME that DJ/VA scraped this finance through at the last minute!
NB: I have no facts to back this ASSUMPTION ONLY up, it's just a punters viewpoint
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Actually, the finance is usually settled very late in the process - better to start paying interest 2 months before flying than 6+ months out! It's like when you buy a house, you sign the mortgage when you're ready to withdraw the money to settle on the house, not when you exchange contracts on it.
Virgin will probably have made progress payments on the aircraft it will own when it signed an MoU to hold a production slot, another when the contract was signed, and another will be paid upon delivery.
For leases, an airline will usually pay deposit equal to a couple of months lease payments when the aircraft is ordered, a progress payment close to delivery, and then the first term payment (usually a month or a quarter) on delivery. Blue chip airlines (QF, BA, CX etc) may get more relaxed terms, while start ups may have tougher terms.
Cheers