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Aircraft lease

Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, as well as to provide temporary increase in capacity. The industry has two main leasing types: wet-leasing, which is normally used for short-term leasing, and dry-leasing which is more normal for longer-term leases. The industry also uses combinations of wet and dry. For example, when the aircraft is wet-leased to establish new services, then as the airline's flight or cabin crews become trained, they can be switched to a dry lease. In some markets, there may also be hybrid models, such as with crew provided by lessees.

Operating leases of jet airliners accounted for less than 2% of the fleet in 1976, then 15% in the early 1990s, 25% in 2000 and 40% in 2017, with lessors involved in 62% of second-hand mid-life aircraft transactions since 2000: 42% in Europe and 29% in North America. In 2015, over $120 billion worth of commercial aircraft were delivered worldwide and half of the global lessors were based in Ireland.

Having an aggressive growth mandate, more aggressive, smaller entrants have overpaid for many of their assets in the sale and leaseback market and are then undercharged on lease rates in order to win the business, with lower maintenance reserves and return conditions: lease-rate factors have fallen to 0.6% per month (7.2% per year), even reaching 0.55% (6.6% per year).

Despite Air Berlin and Monarch Airlines bankruptcies, their leased aircraft have been rapidly placed at "normal market rates" due to traffic growth as global revenue passenger kilometers are up by 7.7% over one year through September 2017, and Airbus struggles to deliver A320neos due to engine supply delays.

In 2007, Beijing allowed Chinese banks to start leasing units, and nine Chinese lessors were part of the 50 largest in 2017, led by ICBC leasing in the top ten, having the value of their managed fleet grew by 15% since 2016. In a few cases, Chinese lessors forgot they had to get secondary leases and missed the redelivery timing, stranding aircraft for a few months.

Rentals are often anchored to LIBOR rates. A320neo and B737 MAX 8 lease rates are $20-30,000 higher than their predecessors: by 2018, a B737-8 can be leased for slightly more than $385,000 per month and a 12 year term with a good credit can be lower than $370,000 per month for an A320neo (0.74% of its around $49 million capital cost), generating $53 million of revenue and over $8.5 million in an end of lease compensation for maintenance, while still being worth $20 million.

Airlines that cannot afford a good deal on factory direct aircraft, or carriers who prefer to maintain flexibility, can lease their aircraft with an operating lease or a finance lease.

A wet lease is a leasing arrangement whereby one airline (the lessor) provides an aircraft, complete crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) to another airline or other type of business acting as a broker of air travel (the lessee), which pays by hours operated. The lessee provides fuel and covers airport fees, and any other duties, taxes, etc. The flight uses the flight number of the lessee. A wet lease generally lasts 1–24 months. A wet lease is typically utilized during peak traffic seasons or annual heavy maintenance checks, or to initiate new routes. A wet-leased aircraft may be used to fly services into countries where the lessee is banned from operating. It can also be used to replace unavailable capacity or to circumvent regulatory or political restrictions.

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