Part 91 Aircraft Financing
Under Part 91 the aircraft is a tool of the business that owns it, not a revenue asset in its own right. That is the central fact of the structure: the payment is carried by the company the aircraft serves, so the analysis follows that company rather than a flight schedule.
The operations this fits.
Corporate flight departments and company aircraft
Owner-operators flying their own aircraft
Family offices and private principals
Businesses replacing charter spend with an owned aircraft
Owners moving an aircraft between ownership entities
How the program is structured.
Acquisition Loan
The most common Part 91 structure. The company keeps title and the depreciation position, and the term is set against how long the aircraft will serve the business.
Operating Lease
Where the accounting treatment or a defined hold period matters more than ownership, a lease sets a residual and leaves a genuine choice at term end.
Sale Leaseback
For a company that already owns its aircraft and would rather have the capital working elsewhere, without giving up the aircraft or how it is operated.
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Book a ConsultationWhat the desk reads.
The operating business and its financial position
How the aircraft supports that business
The ownership entity and how it is capitalized
Flight department structure, or the management arrangement
Expected annual hours and typical mission
Maintenance program and where the aircraft is based
Asked before the term sheet.
How is a Part 91 deal different from a charter operator's?
The source of the payment. A Part 91 aircraft produces no revenue of its own — it saves time for a business, and the business carries the obligation. So the analysis is a corporate credit conversation with an aircraft attached, rather than an assessment of what the aircraft will earn.
Does putting the aircraft in a separate entity complicate financing?
Not usually, and it is the norm. What matters is that the entity's relationship to the operating business is clear and properly documented, since the entity holding title often has no independent means of making payments. That is a structuring question worth settling with counsel early.
What if the aircraft occasionally carries charter?
Then the arrangement needs describing accurately, because an aircraft placed on someone else's certificate part of the time is operating under two sets of rules. It is entirely financeable, but the structure, the insurance, and the maintenance expectations all depend on which hours are flown under which regime.
Related financing
The rest of the aviation desk's coverage — assets, components, and ownership programs.
Fractional & Shared Ownership Financing
Finance a fractional share or a co-ownership interest — where the asset is a share and an agreement rather than a whole aircraft.
Progress Payment Financing
Pre-delivery financing through manufacturer milestones — deposit to delivery, gap-free, for aircraft ordered rather than bought.
Jet Financing
Private jet financing for light, midsize, super-mid, and heavy aircraft — acquisition loans, operating leases, and structures shaped to hold period and mission.
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