Simon Wong

Partner

Simon is a partner at our Hong Kong office, specialising in aviation law and asset finance. He has advised financiers, lessors, airlines and aircraft owners on various types of aircraft financing transactions (including syndicated loans, pre-delivery financing, off-balance sheet financing, Islamic financing and ECA financing), cross-border leasing transactions (including operating leases, finance leases, sale and leasebacks, tax-based leases and domestic PRC operating leases utilising the Tianjin SPV structure), commercial aircraft fleet acquisition projects, aircraft lease novation, engine and cabin equipment purchases, power-by-the-hour arrangements, sale and purchase of used aircraft and aircraft holding companies, aviation joint ventures in Mainland China, licensing arrangements and restructuring of tax leases.

Simon has more than 15 years of experience in the industry. He has handled aircraft transactions involving airlines in China, Australia, Russia, Japan, Qatar, Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, France, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Laos, the Netherlands and Hong Kong.

Simon was awarded a PhD in law by the University of Hong Kong and a Master of Science in Laws by Stanford University. He was a university lecturer in commercial law prior to joining private practice.

Simon is recognised as a leading individual in aviation finance for eight consecutive years by Chambers and The Legal 500 from 2015 to 2022. He is also named as one of the best thirty lawyers globally in aviation finance in the 2022 edition of the 'Best of the Best Global' Guide, one of the Top 100 Foreign Lawyers in China in the 2021 A-List published by China Business Law Journal, and a leading practitioner in aviation finance by Who's Who Legal 2022.

Simon Wong is ‘extremely knowledgeable and experienced in aviation matters’ and has been a key sounding board to both banks and lessors as they seek to navigate the difficulties thrown up by the pandemic, including providing key advice on defaults and insolvencies throughout the APAC region.

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023