Flightpath with Alok featuring Claudia Ziemer, SVP-Finance, Azorra
- 05 June 2025
- Alok Anand
In this latest episode of Flightpath with Alok, host Alok Anand, Chairman & CEO of Acumen Aviation, is joined by Claudia Ziemer, Senior Vice President - Finance at Azorra, a dynamic lessor with a distinct focus on crossover and select wide-body aircraft. Known for operating “on the fringes of narrow-body aircraft,” as Claudia puts it, Azorra represents a new breed of nimble and strategic aviation lessors shaping the future of the sector.
Claudia brings a unique dual-lens perspective to the conversation, having spent significant years on the banking side before returning to her aviation roots. Her journey from an early passion for aviation, through the structured corridors of finance, and back into aircraft leasing, provides a compelling narrative on the cross-section of enthusiasm and expertise.
In this episode, Claudia and Alok explore:
- Claudia’s unconventional career path and the personal decisions that shaped it
- The practicalities of recourse financing, structured finance, and their real-world implications for lessors
- What it takes to raise capital, identify sustainable opportunities, and build a resilient leasing platform in today’s aviation climate
- How Azorra’s strategy diverges from traditional leasing models — and why that matters
Whether you’re a finance professional curious about aircraft leasing or an aviation enthusiast wanting to better understand how deals are structured behind the scenes, this conversation offers rare insight into the engine room of aviation finance.