Narrow Body Wet Lease; A320 Vs B737-800

By Author: Alan Carter
Total Articles: 9
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Narrow body aircraft are extremely popular within the wet lease community; in fact these aircraft have shown to be extremely versatile and often allow for easier setup than the wide body aircraft. In this article we will compare the A320 with the B737-800 series within the context of wet leasing the aircraft. Both A320 and the B737 aircraft are classified as short to medium range narrow body airliners. B737 has many different variants of which most were produced during the same era as the A320 however the B737-800 came along in the mid 90’s and was sold as the “next generation Boeing product”.

Airbus A320:
The A320 represents a significant sales success for Airbus and was a massive technological advance in the aviation industry. The A320 is probably best known as the first airliner to introduce a fly-by-wire flight control system where control inputs from the pilot are transmitted to the flying surfaces by electronic signals rather than mechanical cables. When considering the A320 for a wet lease program; you will enjoy the following advantages compared to the B737-800:

• The A320 will present a ...
... lower ACMI rate per block hour than the B737-800
• The A320 will present more modern technology
• The A320 will have lower maintenance cost than B737-800
Boeing B737-800:
The B737-800 was originally built with 9 seats more than the A320; in a high density configuration you can have 189 seats built in whereas the A320 will have 180 seats in a high density configuration. This gives the B737-800 a slightly better potential for profit than the A320 provided of course that all the seats are filled. Winglets are a very common option on the B737-800 which gives the aircraft a better range. If you are considering a B737-800 on wet lease basis and you are comparing this with an A320, you may wish to consider the following advantages:

• The B737-800 has a better range than the A320
• The B737-800 has a higher seat capacity than the A320
Taking into consideration the above info when looking at wet leasing a narrow body aircraft; it all depends on what you want to achieve and what your business model is. In some cases the A320 will be more suitable, and in other the B737-800. If you are having trouble deciding which aircraft to take on wet lease, you could call on the expertise of an aircraft wet lease specialist who would be able to do a route study for the wet lease program you would like to operate. Companies such as Air Charter International for whom the core business is the wet lease of narrow body passenger aircraft will be able to provide objective advice and comparison studies in order to assist you in setting up the Wet Lease.

If you would like to know more about this article, please feel free to contact Air Charter International, a well established aircraft charter and wet lease broker based in Dubai since 1994. Air Charter International specializes in the provision of A320 wet lease,B737 wet lease and ACMI wet leasing.