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Airlines rarely fund every new aircraft the same way. They combine cash, loans or other aircraft-backed borrowing, ordinary leases, and sale-and-leaseback transactions. A loan finances an acquisition and leaves the airline with debt-service obligations; a lease exchanges a purchase price for contractual payments to a lessor; a sale-and-leaseback raises cash from an aircraft sale while allowing the airline to keep operating that aircraft as lessee. The right choice depends on cash at delivery, total financing cost, accounting, flexibility, residual-value exposure, security and covenants, and the airline’s access to capital.

Why airlines use several funding structures

A commercial aircraft is a large, long-lived asset delivered in batches over many years. An airline therefore manages financing as a portfolio rather than choosing one permanent method for its entire fleet. Lufthansa describes using unsecured corporate finance, aircraft-specific financing models and leases. One delivery may be paid from cash, another financed with debt, and another placed with a lessor.

The mix can change with aircraft type, delivery timing, credit conditions, currency, available collateral and the airline’s fleet plan. A structure that preserves cash at delivery may create larger contractual payments later. A structure that gives the airline ownership may also expose it to the aircraft’s future value. No source supports a universal ranking in which buying, leasing or sale-and-leaseback is always cheapest or safest.

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Buying an aircraft with cash or a loan

What the airline receives

With a cash purchase, the airline pays the manufacturer or seller and owns the aircraft. With borrowed funds, a lender or financing vehicle supplies some or all of the purchase money. The airline still acquires the aircraft, but it must make scheduled principal and interest payments under the financing documents.

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Aircraft loans are often secured by the aircraft. Airbus says an aircraft generally serves as collateral when it provides customer financing. Security packages, amortization, covenants, guarantees, recourse and default remedies are contract-specific, so one aircraft loan should not be treated as a template for all others.

How aircraft-backed financing works

  1. Order and delivery planning: the airline and its financing counterparties determine how the purchase price will be funded when the aircraft is delivered.
  2. Documentation and security: the borrower, lender and relevant entities agree repayment terms, representations, covenants and the collateral package. Registration and security-perfection requirements can matter across jurisdictions.
  3. Funding at delivery: the lender advances funds, the airline completes the purchase, and the aircraft is pledged or otherwise made available as agreed security.
  4. Repayment and monitoring: the airline pays principal and interest and must comply with financial, operational and collateral covenants. Breach or default can trigger remedies defined in the documents.

Airbus distinguishes direct financing from a backstop commitment. A backstop is a manufacturer commitment made when a customer places an order to provide financing if the customer cannot secure enough funding when payment is due. Airbus says these commitments can be transferred and generally include financial conditions. A backstop is therefore contingent support, not the same thing as a funded loan already on the airline’s balance sheet.

Provider-side accounting description

In Airbus’s 2024 statements, loans and finance leases are described as financing in which a third party bears substantially all ownership risks and rewards; the financing provider records principal as a long-term financial asset. That description explains the provider’s presentation and does not establish identical accounting for every borrower or jurisdiction.

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Illustrative market figure

Airbus reported gross customer-financing exposure of US$0.3 billion (€0.3 billion) at 31 December 2024, compared with US$0.4 billion (€0.3 billion) for 2023. Those are Airbus’s reported exposures, not the size of the entire aircraft-finance market or a typical airline loan.

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Leasing an aircraft from a lessor

The basic arrangement

Instead of funding the purchase price itself, an airline contracts with a lessor for the right to use an aircraft. The lessor may buy the aircraft directly from a manufacturer and place it with the airline, or acquire it through a sale-and-leaseback. The airline pays rent and other amounts specified in the lease and must meet delivery, maintenance, insurance, return and operating conditions.

Leasing can reduce the cash needed at delivery compared with an outright purchase, but it does not make the aircraft free. It creates contractual payment obligations, and the airline gives up some ownership economics and control over the asset’s eventual disposition.

Why “lease” is not one accounting category

Lease labels do not settle the accounting. Lufthansa’s disclosed policy classifies a lessor lease as a finance lease when it transfers essentially all risks and rewards associated with ownership; otherwise it classifies it as operating. For lessees, Lufthansa states that lease liabilities are initially measured at the present value of lease payments and that right-of-use assets are depreciated over the applicable period, subject to the exceptions in its IFRS 16 policy.

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Consequently, describing every lease as “off balance sheet” is wrong. The applicable accounting rules, the lease terms and the parties’ rights determine whether an airline recognizes a right-of-use asset, a lease liability, depreciation, interest or other amounts. Lufthansa’s policy is an issuer-specific disclosure of IFRS treatment, not a complete summary of every country’s standards.

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Operational commitments in a lease

  • Payment schedule: rent and related charges continue for the contractual term, subject to the agreed mechanisms.
  • Use restrictions: leases can set conditions covering maintenance, records, insurance, utilization and modifications.
  • Return requirements: at expiry, the aircraft normally must meet specified condition and documentation standards.
  • Flexibility limits: early termination, substitution or extension rights depend on negotiated clauses and may carry costs.

What is an aircraft sale-and-leaseback?

In a sale-and-leaseback, an airline sells an aircraft—or, in some transactions, a delivered aircraft and associated delivery position—to an external lessor and leases it back. The airline receives sale proceeds while retaining operational use under the lease. Economically, the transaction converts an owned asset or delivery investment into cash and replaces ownership with a contractual right to use the aircraft.

Typical transaction sequence

  1. Identify the asset: the airline and lessor agree which delivered aircraft, or which delivery position and advance payments, will be transferred.
  2. Set the sale and lease terms: price, lease term, rent, maintenance obligations, return conditions and other protections are negotiated together.
  3. Close the transfer: the lessor pays the agreed proceeds and takes the ownership interest recognized under the transaction documents.
  4. Continue operations as lessee: the airline pays rent and complies with the lease while flying the aircraft.
  5. Manage the end of term: the airline returns, extends, replaces or otherwise handles the aircraft according to the negotiated rights.

Lufthansa reported that, in 2024, delivered aircraft and advance payments were sold to external lessors and leased back for six-year periods. It reported €761 million of proceeds from sale-and-leaseback transactions in that year, involving 15 passenger aircraft. This is Lufthansa’s company-specific result, not an industry average, sale price or standard lease rate.

Why an airline might use one

  • Raise cash tied up in an aircraft or its delivery position.
  • Retain operational access without continuing to own the aircraft.
  • Rebalance ownership and lease exposure across the fleet.
  • Use a lessor’s funding access when direct borrowing is less attractive or less available.

The trade-off is a new lease commitment, loss of direct ownership and exposure to the lease’s rent, covenants and return conditions. The cash proceeds do not eliminate the economic cost of using the aircraft.

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When the transfer is not a sale for accounting

A legal transfer does not automatically produce sale accounting. Lufthansa says it assesses whether a sale occurred using IFRS 15 criteria. If the transfer qualifies as a sale, the lessee derecognizes the transferred asset and recognizes a right-of-use asset; any gain or loss is limited to the rights transferred. If it does not qualify as a sale, the asset remains on the lessee’s books and the transfer price is recognized as a financial liability. Below-market or above-market terms may also require adjustments.

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Therefore, a sale-and-leaseback cannot be assumed to remove an aircraft from an airline’s balance sheet or to improve a particular balance-sheet measure. The conclusion depends on the detailed terms and the applicable accounting rules.

Loans, leases and sale-and-leasebacks compared

Question Cash purchase or aircraft loan Lease from a lessor Sale-and-leaseback
What is being funded? Acquisition of the aircraft, using cash or borrowed money. The airline’s contractual right to use an aircraft. Cash released from an aircraft or delivery position, followed by leased use.
Cash needed at delivery Highest for an all-cash purchase; borrowing can reduce the airline’s immediate cash contribution. Purchase price is funded by the lessor, while the airline pays amounts required by the lease. Sale proceeds provide liquidity, subject to the agreed purchase price and transaction costs.
Primary obligation Debt-service payments, including principal and interest when borrowed. Contractual lease payments and compliance with lease conditions. Lease payments after the sale, plus obligations created by the transfer documents.
Ownership and residual value Airline owns the aircraft and generally bears its future value risk. Lessor owns the aircraft; the airline has use rights and negotiated return obligations. Lessor owns the aircraft after transfer; the airline gives up ownership economics while retaining use for the lease term.
Security and covenants Aircraft collateral and lender covenants may apply; exact terms vary. Lease protections govern use, maintenance, insurance and return. Lease protections apply, alongside sale and transfer conditions.
Accounting question Borrowing and owned-aircraft accounting apply under the relevant standards. Classification and lessee recognition depend on the applicable rules and lease details. First determine whether the transfer qualifies as a sale; then apply sale-and-leaseback accounting.
Flexibility Ownership can provide control, but debt covenants and disposal restrictions may constrain action. Flexibility depends on extension, termination, substitution and return clauses. Operational flexibility is governed by the lease after the airline has converted ownership into use rights.
Funding access Depends on the airline’s credit, collateral and lender or capital-market access. Depends on lessor capacity and the airline’s ability to meet lease underwriting requirements. Depends on lessor demand, aircraft attractiveness and transaction terms at closing.

The table identifies questions to ask, not a universal winner. Company disclosures do not provide a matched, same-aircraft comparison of loan, lease and sale-and-leaseback pricing.

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How airlines evaluate a proposed structure

1. Calculate the complete cash cost

Compare the purchase contribution, interest or rent, fees, insurance, maintenance-related reserves, taxes where applicable and expected end-of-term costs. A lower initial payment can accompany higher lifetime obligations. Do not substitute a headline lease rate or interest rate for a full transaction analysis.

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2. Map obligations and liquidity

Show each payment date, currency, maturity, refinancing need and early-termination consequence. Test whether the airline can continue paying during weak demand or grounded-aircraft periods. A sale-and-leaseback should be assessed as both an immediate cash inflow and a long-term lease commitment.

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3. Review accounting before signing

Determine whether the arrangement creates debt, a right-of-use asset and lease liability, or another presentation under the relevant standards. For a sale-and-leaseback, document the IFRS 15 sale assessment and the treatment of any gain, loss or off-market element. Accounting should be reviewed with advisers for the airline’s jurisdiction rather than inferred from the transaction label.

4. Examine control and fleet flexibility

Ownership can make disposition and modification decisions more direct, subject to financing restrictions. Leasing may support fleet renewal or capacity changes but binds the airline to return standards and contractual permissions. Check extension, substitution, purchase-option, termination and redelivery clauses individually.

5. Price residual-value exposure

An owner generally keeps the upside and downside from the aircraft’s future value. A lessee transfers much of that exposure to the lessor but may face return-condition costs and rent set by the lessor’s own risk assessment. Sale-and-leaseback transfers ownership after closing, so the airline no longer participates in later residual value in the same way.

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6. Check security, recourse and resilience

Review collateral, guarantees, financial covenants, cross-default provisions, maintenance covenants and remedies. Aircraft finance is cross-border: tax, insolvency, registration, security perfection, export-credit support and currency can alter the risk allocation. These details can determine whether nominally similar structures behave very differently in a downturn.

What lessor activity illustrates

SMBC Aviation Capital reported US$5 billion of long-term leases agreed in fiscal 2024: US$3.5 billion of aircraft bought directly from manufacturers and US$1.5 billion of sale-and-leaseback transactions. This is one lessor’s company-specific activity, not the total market or a typical airline’s financing mix. Its chief financial officer, Aisling Kenny, wrote: “We operate in a cyclical industry and we closely monitor financial, geopolitical and macroeconomic developments.” The observation highlights why both airlines and lessors focus on resilience and market access, but it does not establish a current market price or forecast.

Risks, limits and questions to resolve

  • Market-cycle risk: airline earnings, aircraft values and lessor funding conditions can change together.
  • Currency risk: an airline earning mainly in one currency may owe rent or debt service in another.
  • Legal and insolvency risk: repossession, registration and security rights depend on local law and documentation.
  • Delivery risk: delays can affect deposits, backstop availability, bridge funding and lease commencement.
  • Accounting risk: a transaction’s commercial name may not match its financial-statement treatment.
  • Concentration risk: a fleet financed with one lender, lessor, currency or maturity profile may be less resilient.

Before committing, an airline should obtain legal, tax, accounting and technical advice for the actual aircraft and jurisdictions involved. Public issuer reports can explain structures and examples, but they cannot supply the private pricing, covenants or remedies in a specific transaction.

Bottom line for the “buy or lease?” question

Airlines do both, often for the same fleet program. Buying with cash or borrowing preserves ownership but consumes capital or creates debt and residual-value exposure. Leasing shifts funding and ownership to a lessor in exchange for contractual payments and operating conditions. Sale-and-leaseback releases cash from an aircraft or delivery position while preserving use, but it replaces ownership with a lease and may or may not qualify as a sale in the accounts. The defensible choice is the structure whose total cost, liquidity profile, accounting, flexibility, risk allocation and funding access fit that airline’s circumstances—not a label that is assumed to be cheaper or better.

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