ACMI News Oct 6, 2026: Freighter Leases, AerCap & GetJet
AerSale places a 757 freighter with Mister Air, AerCap reports 85 Q3 leases, flydubai starts wet-leased 737Fs and GetJet flies for Etihad.
Aviation & ACMI News — October 6, 2026
Today’s capacity story runs through the cargo deck. A 757 freighter is heading to a new Romanian operator, flydubai has started flying wet-leased 737 freighters, AerCap’s third-quarter numbers show how much metal is changing hands, and GetJet is putting Airbus capacity into Abu Dhabi for Etihad. For ACMI buyers and suppliers, the common thread is airlines choosing to rent capacity before committing to owning it.
What matters today
AerSale has leased a Boeing 757-200PCF to Mister Air Transport; AerCap has reported 85 lease signings for the third quarter; flydubai has begun dedicated freighter flying through a three-year wet lease with SolitAir; and Etihad has added seasonal A320-family capacity from GetJet. For more on yesterday’s market moves, see our October 5 aviation and ACMI brief.
AerSale places a 757-200PCF with Mister Air Transport
AerSale has leased a Boeing 757-200PCF to Romanian cargo carrier Mister Air Transport, which will manage freighter operations for shareholder AerCommerce. The aircraft is expected to enter revenue service this month, and AerSale announced the lease on October 6.
The lessor describes it as one of the first units in a planned medium-haul freighter fleet. AerSale also announced a 757-200PCF lease to Kazakhstan’s Jupiter Jet last month, so this is a second recent placement of the type with a smaller, growth-minded cargo operator.
New freighter operators often start with a dry-leased aircraft, then lean on wet-lease or sub-charter capacity while they build crews, approvals and customer volume. That sequence is where cargo ACMI providers tend to find work.
AerCap reports 85 lease signings and 65 aircraft sales in Q3
AerCap has published its third-quarter transaction summary. The lessor signed 85 lease agreements covering 16 widebodies, 45 narrowbodies, 13 engines and 11 helicopters, and completed 85 sale transactions covering 65 aircraft. AerCap released the figures on October 5.
The disposals included nine Boeing 767 freighters, alongside A320-family aircraft, 737NGs and several widebody types. On the buy side, AerCap completed purchases of 32 aircraft, including 20 Boeing 737 MAX and eight A320neo-family aircraft, and signed roughly $900 million of financing transactions.
Lessor portfolio trading matters to the capacity market because older aircraft that leave one balance sheet frequently reappear with operators that are more price-sensitive, including ACMI and charter airlines. Lessors that actively manage portfolios, a role covered in our guide to aircraft asset management companies, influence which aircraft enter the wet-lease pool and when.
flydubai starts freighter flying with three wet-leased 737-800Fs
flydubai began dedicated freighter operations on October 1, wet-leasing three Boeing 737-800 freighters from SolitAir for three years. ch-aviation reported the contract terms, and the aircraft are based at Dubai World Central.
Each aircraft offers about 23,000 kg of payload per flight, and the carrier plans both scheduled point-to-point services and ad-hoc charters. Khaleej Times noted that flydubai intends to evaluate passenger-to-freighter conversions from 2029 onwards.
Until now flydubai’s cargo business relied on belly capacity in its passenger fleet. Starting with a wet lease lets the airline test main-deck demand without owning freighters or building a freighter crew base. It also gives SolitAir, which has said it is seeking ACMI work for its own aircraft, a multi-year anchor customer.
GetJet wet-leases two A320-family aircraft to Etihad in Abu Dhabi
Lithuanian operator GetJet Airlines has signed a seasonal wet-lease agreement with Etihad Airways. Two A320-family aircraft from the GetJet fleet will be based at Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, with operations starting October 1. Aviation Week covered the agreement.
The deal moves European ACMI capacity into the Gulf for the winter peak, when demand in the region typically strengthens just as many leisure operators in Europe scale back. That counter-seasonal pattern lets providers keep aircraft earning through the off-peak months.
Gulf demand is also reshaping the ground side of the market. Dubai’s secondary airport in particular has become a hub for freighters and private aviation alike, a trend we examined in our guide to FBO networks in Europe and the Middle East.
The capacity-market takeaway
Three of today’s four stories involve an airline or cargo operator testing a market with leased capacity rather than a permanent fleet commitment. That is the core logic of ACMI: it converts a large, uncertain investment into a contract that can be sized, priced and, if necessary, ended.
The AerCap figures add a second layer. Lessors are trading aircraft at scale, so the supply of mature narrowbodies and freighters entering the secondary market is steady. Operators that can match those aircraft with seasonal or start-up demand are well placed.
For buyers of capacity, the checklist is familiar: aircraft type and payload, base and operating approvals, crew availability, contract length and who bears fuel and positioning costs. For suppliers, the question is how to keep aircraft utilised across seasons and regions. Our ACMI and dry lease overview explains how the structures differ.
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