What an aircraft costs: price history and lease economics

Research · 11 November 2026

First comes value and rent history for four segments. A numerical transaction example then connects acquisition price, residual value and the cost of capital to rent, showing who receives each payment and who retains each risk.

History by segment · Transaction economics · Cost per flight

In our Frankfurt–Barcelona A320neo example, the default allocates 2,472 EUR per flight to leasing. The selected estimate gives 2,508 EUR–2,692 EUR, with a midpoint of 2,600 EUR. This difference concerns ownership: fuel, maintenance and crew are held fixed. Each multiplier is shown below, explaining why neither the catalogue nor age alone determines a monthly payment.

Four different quantities

Buying converts money into an asset; leasing creates a recurring payment. Flight economics needs an allocation of ownership to aircraft use. For a leased aircraft, divide monthly rent by monthly block hours, then multiply by the flight's block time. A purchased aircraft needs a separate capital and residual-value model; its purchase price cannot replace monthly rent.

History by segment: value and rent

Four segments, two types each. Lease charts are visible; purchase-price charts can be expanded separately. Each type keeps its colour across both charts. Values are nominal dollars of the stated period; catalogue prices are excluded.

Hollow points and dashed lines indicate approximate readings from a published chart, not new appraisals. Vertical bars show published rent ranges. Quarterly and annual dates retain their precision and are displayed at the period centre. Lines only join comparable observations within one series; gaps exceeding eighteen months remain open. Click a point to open its source.

A point inside a range marks the arithmetic midpoint of its bounds. It is a scenario marker, not a published average transaction price.

On a narrow screen, charts scroll horizontally.

Lease charts include today's baseline expressed in each year's dollars. This translates the current formula, not actual historical contracts. Each chart states the model's age basis. The calculator does not yet model aircraft acquisition prices, so value charts have no corresponding model line.

Panels show selected primary-source series. Individual accepted news reports from 2022–2024 remain in the type catalogue but are not included in these lines. A gap means no comparable observation in this selection, not that no publication exists for that year.

What “after” means

For five new-aircraft types, the age matches the formula’s basis. Their rent can be anchored to a dated reference: retain the source range and use its midpoint for one scenario. The resulting factor belongs to a particular type, age, period and set of conditions. It neither makes the formula universal nor validates future rent forecasts.

L_{after,type,age,t₀} = L_{model,type,age,t₀} × k
k = [(L_low,t₀ + L_high,t₀) / 2] / L_{model,type,age,t₀}

The short mark spans only the source’s dating precision. Its agreement with that source is built into the calculation, not an independent test. The “after” line is not extended beyond it. ATR and E175 have no correction: comparable rents for aircraft around age twelve are needed.

Charts use the original line’s fixed 1.16 USD/EUR convention. The flight example below uses the 1.113 USD/EUR snapshot. Thus the A320neo chart correction is about +0.9%, while EUR cost per flight changes about +5.2%; the difference includes FX conversion.

A recent anchor: Q1 2026

IBA reports these monthly ranges. The reference period remains a quarter; no exact month is invented.³

These are appraisals; midpoints are our calculation. Age and variant are retained; A321NX and XLR are kept separate. The source explicitly links the A321NX rent range to lessee credit strength. Its USD 65m appraisal is a half-life market value (HLMV); this maintenance-condition basis must be retained separately from aircraft age.

How aircraft price becomes a lease rate

The lessor pays for an aircraft now, receives rent over time and retains an asset to re-lease or sell. Rent must cover value loss, expenses and the required return on capital. A constant percentage of catalogue price cannot determine it: actual acquisition cost, term, future value, contract conditions and the market matter.¹⁶

The formula below calculates required rent under stated assumptions. A negotiated market rate can differ. Air Lease's 2025 filing describes fixed rates on existing leases and separate interest or manufacturer-escalation adjustments for future deliveries. A change in borrowing rates does not automatically rewrite an existing lease.¹⁷

Who pays whom: one transaction from purchase to resale

On a narrow screen, diagrams can be scrolled horizontally.

Additional contractual payments

These flows have no assigned amount in this example. They depend on the contract and are shown separately from basic rent.^16,18

In a sale-and-leaseback the airline fills two roles in these diagrams: it first receives sale proceeds, then pays rent as operator. In a regular purchase the seller is the manufacturer or previous owner. The operator uses the aircraft; the lessor owns it.^16,19

From monthly rent to one flight

L = (L_min + L_max) / 2
C_flight,EUR = (L_USD/month / FX_USD/EUR) × t_block,h / H_month,h
ΔC_passenger = (C_scenario − C_default) / (seats × load)

The midpoint gives 2,600 EUR per flight: 128 EUR above the default, or 0.89 EUR per passenger at the assumed load. FX is dated 2026-10-29, while rent refers to Q1. This is a stated conversion scenario, not an observed Q1 euro contract.

Leasing allocated to the same illustrative flight at different monthly utilisation. Bars propagate scenario bounds; they are not statistical confidence intervals.

The same monthly payment is spread over more or fewer working hours. Utilisation can therefore change flight cost more than choosing a point inside a narrow rent range. For a real route, adjust both inputs: the contractual rent and achievable utilisation under the schedule.

Why a catalogue does not replace an appraisal

Airbus and AVAC; new aircraft, different months of one year. This compares two price concepts, not an observed transaction discount.^1,2

Separate aircraft age from the market year

A ten-year-old aircraft being cheaper than a new one does not isolate depreciation. Valuation date, variant, specification and appraiser must be held comparable. Comparing an older aircraft in a crisis with a new one in a shortage mixes age and market conditions. We form comparisons within type, period and source.

AVAC notes that the five-year column may cover ages four to six. This is an appraisal cross-section, not one aircraft aging.⁷

The input contains 73 matched value-and-lease pairs with the same type, month, age and source. Their L/V ratio is useful for comparison but is not investment return: it omits expenses and residual value. A universal factor is premature; validation on held-out years and types comes first.

What this changes in the calculator

1. ⚑ Mind when entering dataUse the chosen range as a scenario: enter the midpoint as monthly rent and test the bounds in separate calculations.
2. ✓ Built into the calculatorKeep published bounds distinct from the computed midpoint; an explicit manual rate has priority.
3. ◷ Queued for the calculatorFit rates by type, age and period after checking the expanded data, retaining the source's date precision.
4. ◷ Queued for the calculatorSeparate leasing and purchase scenarios: for a purchase, specify price, holding period, residual value and capital return; for a lease, specify rent, term and payment scope. Show loan terms separately from asset economics.
5. ◷ Queued for the calculatorShow flight economics separately from cash requirements: deposits, maintenance reserves and principal repayment differ from period expenses. Check that maintenance is not counted twice.