A dry lease is primarily an aircraft rental
The lessee places the aircraft on its own operating certificate where permitted, supplies crews and handles maintenance, insurance and day-to-day operations.
A wet lease includes the operating platform
The supplier provides aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance, so the customer can add flights without integrating the aircraft fully into its own fleet.
Contract lengths tend to differ
Dry leases are commonly used for multi-year fleet financing, while wet leases can be short-term or seasonal, though long arrangements also exist.
Regulatory treatment is different
Authorities examine who has operational control, whose certificate applies and whether foreign wet leasing is permitted under local rules.
Economics depend on the problem being solved
A dry lease can be cheaper for long-term use if the airline already has crews and infrastructure. A wet lease is valuable when capacity is needed quickly.
The terminology matters in disruptions
Passengers may see another operator named on the booking because a wet-lease provider is actually flying the service, even though the marketing airline sold the ticket.
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