In an aircraft sale-leaseback, you sell an aircraft you own to a lessor and immediately lease it back. The aircraft never leaves your operation, and the sale releases the equity in it as cash you can use for growth, upgrades or paying down costlier debt.
Who is it a good fit for?
- You own aircraft with meaningful equity
- You need capital for growth faster than lenders will advance it
- You want to convert owned aircraft into predictable lease costs
When might another structure be better?
- Aircraft are worth less than their loan balances
- You plan to sell the aircraft soon anyway
- The lease cost would exceed the return on the cash
How a sale-leaseback works
The lessor appraises the aircraft and offers to buy it at an agreed price. You use the proceeds to pay off any existing loan, and keep the rest. On the same day, you sign a lease and keep flying. Over the lease term you pay rent, and the lease sets maintenance, insurance and return conditions.
What drives the numbers
Three things matter most: what the lessor will pay for the aircraft, your existing loan balance, and the lease rate. The JetFinex sale-leaseback calculator estimates the cash released and the monthly lease cost from these.
Aircraft Sale-Leaseback Calculator
Cash released and the monthly lease that follows.
