Aircraft leasing

Charter leases are paid per flight and are suitable for up to 200 flight hours per year. Leasing is the long-term use of an assigned aircraft under a contract for months or years with predictable, regular payments. Crew and maintenance may be included in the contract or arranged separately.

An operational lease is cheaper and leaves no obligations: the aircraft is returned at the end of the lease term, and the residual value risk is borne by the lessor. A financial lease involves purchase and is essentially an installment plan. The choice depends on whether you want to own the aircraft and your planned lease term.

With a dry lease, only the aircraft is transferred—you provide the crew, maintenance, and insurance yourself. A wet lease (ACMI) includes the crew, maintenance, and insurance, and you pay fuel and airport fees. A dry lease is cheaper but requires your own operating structure.

Typically, terms range from several months to several years. Shorter terms are often structured as wet leases, while longer terms are often structured as operating or finance leases. The term affects the rate: the longer the term, the lower the monthly payment.

Typically, a security deposit is paid, along with service reserves. Flight time limits and excess fees, aircraft condition requirements upon return, and early termination conditions are also specified. These clauses should be verified before signing, as they often conceal additional costs.

The standard path takes 6–10 weeks. Step 1: a letter of intent (LOI) with price and terms — 3–5 days. Step 2: a 5–10% deposit into escrow and signing of the purchase agreement. Step 3: a pre-purchase inspection — 1–3 weeks. Step 4: rectification of findings and price adjustment. Step 5: closing — simultaneous transfer of funds, title and risk, technical acceptance and ferry of the aircraft.

A pre-purchase inspection (PPI) is an independent check at a certified centre: airframe, engines, corrosion, records and compliance with airworthiness directives. It takes from 3 days on a turboprop to 2–3 weeks on a heavy jet and costs $15–100K — paid by the buyer. By market practice the seller pays to rectify airworthiness-affecting defects. A seller refusing a PPI is grounds to walk away.

The import budget depends on jurisdiction. In the EU the main items are any customs duty (most business-jet codes carry reduced or zero rates) and import VAT, which varies by country of entry (for example 19–22% in much of Europe). Registration in Aruba, San Marino or the Isle of Man under operation outside the EU allows a temporary-admission regime. We produce an exact calculation before the LOI is signed — an error here costs millions.

After purchase the aircraft must be entered into service: choose a registry (Aruba, San Marino, Isle of Man or a national one), sign a management and maintenance contract with an operator, enrol the engines on a programme (ESP/JSSI), arrange insurance, hangar and crew, and plan the first maintenance. We support all of these steps. Send us a request — we'll prepare options, calculate running costs and analyse the best fit for your task.

Before a deal we check: title and absence of liens or leases (a registry title search), the full maintenance history and airworthiness-directive records, the status of heavy maintenance checks and engine time remaining, any incident involvement, and compliance with export rules. We organise this review and an independent pre-purchase inspection before any funds move. Send us a request — we'll prepare options, calculate running costs and analyse the best fit for your task.