A useful aircraft enquiry gives a prospective lessor enough information to assess the requirement and gives your team a consistent basis for comparing responses. Start with the operator, aircraft specification, timing and commercial scope; identify what is confirmed and what still needs review.
Use this as a commercial preparation checklist. Aircraft suitability, maintenance status, operational approvals and lease terms require review by the operator and its appointed technical, regulatory and legal specialists.
Identify the operator and the mandate
Make it clear who will lease and operate the aircraft, who is coordinating the enquiry, and who can make a decision.
- Record the proposed lessee’s legal name, operating base and relevant air operator certificate details or application status.
- Name the commercial decision-maker and the technical and operations contacts who will review any proposal.
- Explain whether the enquiry comes directly from the operator or through an authorized representative, and describe that representative’s scope.
- State that a dry lease is requested. If crew or other operating services are also needed, describe them separately for specialist review.
The FAA describes a dry lease as an aircraft lease without crew and emphasizes the lessee’s operational control. Its guidance addresses US operations; your own authority’s requirements must be checked for the proposed arrangement.
Define the aircraft and intended operation
Separate essential requirements from preferences so that an alternative can be assessed without losing the purpose of the enquiry.
- Specify the aircraft family, model or acceptable alternatives, number of aircraft, and passenger or cargo configuration.
- Give the intended operating region, indicative routes, required capacity, and the operator’s expected monthly flight hours and cycles.
- List cabin, engine and equipment preferences supplied by your technical team; mark which are mandatory and which are negotiable.
- State any age, records, maintenance or delivery-condition limits set by the operator or relevant authority, with the reviewer responsible for confirming them.
Set the delivery window and lease term
An available aircraft and a ready-to-operate aircraft are different milestones. Give each a date and an owner.
- Provide the desired delivery window, preferred delivery location, proposed lease duration and flexibility on each.
- Distinguish the target aircraft handover date from the target entry-into-service date.
- Identify internal review, inspection, documentation and approval milestones that could affect the timetable.
- Ask which delivery assumptions depend on maintenance, reconfiguration, records review, registration or other outstanding work.
Put the commercial assumptions in writing
Monthly rent alone does not describe the proposed commitment. Ask for enough detail to compare the full commercial structure.
- State the rent budget or commercial parameters, currency, intended term and assumed utilization; label estimates clearly.
- Request the proposed security deposit or other security, rent payment schedule, escalation and offer validity.
- Ask how maintenance reserves, reimbursement conditions, end-of-lease compensation and return-condition obligations are proposed to work.
- Identify responsibility for insurance, inspections, modifications, positioning, taxes and other transaction costs, with unresolved items marked for review.
Plan the information and specialist review
At the initial stage, request an asset summary and agree how detailed records and confidential information will be exchanged.
- Request the aircraft identity, specification, configuration and current location when a specific asset is proposed.
- Ask your technical team to define the records package it needs, including relevant aircraft, engine and component histories and maintenance status.
- Agree who will assess the records, inspect the aircraft and sign off technical acceptance; record the scope and timing of that review.
- Have the responsible teams confirm the approval, registration, import, insurance and operational requirements for the intended jurisdictions before committing to dates.
For a Bangladesh operation, CAAB’s Air Operator Certification and Administration implementing standard includes aircraft leasing arrangements. Ask the operator’s regulatory team to confirm the current provisions and their application to the proposed lease.
Agree the next decision and its owner
A clear response process helps both parties understand whether they are discussing an indicative option or progressing a defined transaction.
- Ask the lessor to identify departures from the brief, unavailable information and the assumptions behind the offer.
- Keep a dated list of open commercial, technical and documentation questions, with a named owner for each answer.
- Identify who can authorize a letter of intent, deposit, inspection or contract, and have advisers review the relevant terms before signature or payment.
- Set a date for the next review and record what information is needed to move to that stage.
Before shortlisting
Compare proposals on the same basis
- Asset & condition
- Aircraft identity, configuration, records access, maintenance assumptions and proposed delivery condition.
- Timing
- Actual availability, delivery dependencies, location and readiness for your review process.
- Commercial exposure
- Rent, security, reserves, escalation, additional costs and return obligations across the proposed term.
- Responsibilities
- Who supplies each document, performs each review, pays each cost and obtains each approval.
- Open conditions
- Exceptions, unanswered questions, offer expiry and approvals still needed before commitment.
Ready to start
Your initial enquiry brief
Use these headings for your initial message. An honest “to be confirmed” is more useful than an unsupported estimate.
- Operator / lessee and country:
- Your role and authority to enquire:
- Aircraft type, quantity and configuration:
- Intended operation and indicative utilization:
- Delivery window, location and lease term:
- Essential requirements and acceptable alternatives:
- Commercial parameters and review contacts:
- Open questions and requested next step:
Discuss your requirement with Fulcrum
Fulcrum coordinates sourcing, supplier representation and transactions for Bangladesh and international aviation markets. Share a defined requirement so the scope of commercial coordination can be discussed. Technical acceptance and regulatory approvals remain with the responsible teams.
Official references
Use the current guidance for your product, operation and destination. These references support the points noted above; they do not replace a transaction-specific review.
- FAA — Pilots, Owners, and Operators
US guidance on dry leases and operational control.
- CAAB — Air Operator Certification and Administration (PDF)
Bangladesh implementing standard with provisions on aircraft leasing arrangements; confirm the current applicable version with CAAB.