Wet lease
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A wet lease is a leasing arrangement whereby one airline (lessor) provides an aircraft, complete crew, maintenance, and insurance, (ACMI) to another airline (lessee), who pays by hours operated. The lessee provides fuel, covers airport fees, and any other duties, taxes, etc. The flight uses the flight number of the lessee. A wet lease generally lasts one month to two years; anything less would be considered an ad-hoc charter. A wet lease is typically utilized during peak traffic seasons or annual heavy maintenance checks, or to initiate new routes. [1] A wet leased aircraft may be used to fly into ports otherwise banned for an airline due to inadequate safety.[2]
Ground handling is usually done by the lessor although this can vary from country to country. In some cases the lessee provides these services (or one of its partners).
They can also be considered as a form of charter whereby the lessor provides minimum operating services, including ACMI, and the lessee provides the balance of services along with flight numbers. In all other forms of charter, the lessor provides the flight numbers. Variations of a wet lease include a code share arrangement and a block seat agreement.
"Dry lease" refers to leasing only the aircraft. When an air carrier provides less than an entire aircraft crew, the wet lease occasionally is also sometimes referred to as a damp lease, especially in the UK. A wet lease without crew is occasionally referred to as a "moist lease".[1]
