Dry Lease

What Is a Dry Lease?

A dry lease is an aircraft leasing arrangement in which the lessor provides only the airframe itself. The lessee — typically an airline or operator holding its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC) — is responsible for supplying the flight crew, cabin crew, maintenance, and insurance, and for operating the aircraft under its own operating certificate and call sign.

This is the opposite structure from a wet lease, which packages the aircraft together with crew, maintenance, and insurance (often shorthanded as ACMI). Under a dry lease, the aircraft effectively joins the lessee's own operating fleet for the lease term, flown under the lessee's regulatory approvals rather than the lessor's.

Dry Lease vs Wet Lease

Why Airlines Use Dry Leases

Airlines dry lease aircraft for several commercial and fleet-planning reasons.

Regulatory Considerations

Because the lessee operates the aircraft under its own AOC, dry leases usually require regulatory approval confirming the lessee's ability to safely operate the specific aircraft type, along with registration and insurance changes. Cross-border dry leases can also involve additional oversight to determine which authority holds safety oversight responsibility for the aircraft during the lease term.