Air Lease Corp. announced Friday that it swung to a profit in the third quarter and that its fleet of airplanes has grown.

Based in Century City, Air Lease is the upstart plane leasing company founded by billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy in July 2010 after he left International Lease Finance Corp., another plane leasor in Century City. ILFC is owned by insurance conglomerate American International Group.

For the quarter, Air Lease reported earnings of $18.3 million or 18 cents a share, compared to a loss of $11.2 million or 12 cents a share for the same period last year.

The company purchased 14 planes during the quarter to grow its fleet to 79 aircraft. The company’s goal is to own 100 airplanes by the end of this year. The company also leased 17 aircraft to 11 customers during the quarter.

In a statement, Udvar-Hazy attributed the growth to the trend that “passenger airline growth in many regions of the world continues at a strong rate.”

By mid-day shares of Air Lease traded at $22.86, a gain of 19 cents or less than 1 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.