Top 10 Spare Engine Leasing Companies in 2026

AerCap Engines is the engine leasing arm of the world's largest aircraft lessor and the biggest name in the spare engine market. Its second-quarter 2026 factsheet lists about 1,300 engines owned, serviced and on order, more than 140 customers in around 60 countries, and 24 engine types from the CF34 and CFM56 through LEAP, PW1100G, GE90, GEnx and the Trent family.

Breadth is the advantage. Few lessors can cover a regional jet, an A320neo and a 787 operator from the same pool, and AerCap also offers short-term rentals aimed at unplanned removals, with 24/7 support. It also co-owns Shannon Engine Support, the CFM specialist ranked fifth below.

Willis Lease is the largest independent specialist in the market. At 30 June 2026, its lease portfolio held 334 engines and 22 aircraft, with total assets under management of US$4.4 billion. It also runs engine MRO, teardown and parts businesses, so it can support an engine from lease through to part-out.

It has been one of the most aggressive buyers of new-technology spares. By late 2025 it held 70 LEAP spare engines across its CFM orders, making it the largest independent lessor of LEAP spares, and it has a separate supply relationship with Pratt & Whitney for GTF engines. Willis says airlines replacing engines often sign contracts of around three years, and shorter deals are frequently extended.

RRPF is the go-to lessor for Rolls-Royce widebody engines. GATX says the joint venture owns more Rolls-Royce and V2500-A5 engines than any other lessor, leasing them both to airlines and to Rolls-Royce itself for its engine maintenance programmes.

Business is strong. In its second-quarter 2026 results, GATX reported 468 engines in the RRPF portfolio and 46 more in its wholly owned GATX Engine Leasing business. Engine leasing segment profit more than doubled year on year, and CEO Robert Lyons said demand for spare engines remained strong.

ELFC is one of the oldest dedicated engine lessors, founded in 1990 and based in Shannon. It has been part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Lease group since 2014, now Mitsubishi HC Capital, which gives it a deep-pocketed Japanese parent and a sister lessor in Jackson Square Aviation.

In August 2025 it signed the largest deal in its history, an agreement with CFM for 50 LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B spare engines. ELFC's management has said publicly that delivery delays and low retirement rates for A320ceo and 737NG aircraft are keeping demand high for current-generation CFM56 and V2500 engines too.

SES is the specialist for CFM engines, the family that powers most of the world's A320 and 737 fleets. It is a 50:50 joint venture between AerCap and Safran, CFM's French parent, and focuses entirely on CFM56 and LEAP spares.

Its edge is reach. SES runs engine pool locations worldwide alongside offices in Shannon, Budapest, Singapore, Cincinnati and China, so a replacement CFM engine is rarely far from where an airline needs it.

FTAI has built a distinctive model around current-generation engines. It leases CFM56 and V2500 engines and aircraft, and supplies refurbished engine modules from its own repair network, which shortens the time an airline waits for a serviceable engine.

The module business is growing fast. On its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, FTAI raised its 2026 module output guidance to 1,200 units and said leasing earnings would increasingly flow through its Strategic Capital Initiative, a set of investor vehicles that buy and lease aircraft and engines.

SAEL is the engine leasing business of Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing, which became its sole shareholder in October 2021 after buying out MTU's remaining stake. It was formerly Sumisho Aero Engine Lease.

It concentrates on medium- and long-term leases and engine financing rather than short-term rentals, across both narrowbody and widebody types including the PW1100G and GEnx. That makes it a natural fit for airlines building a permanent spare engine pool rather than covering a single removal.

MTU Maintenance Lease Services is a joint venture between MTU Aero Engines and Sumitomo Corporation that leases engines across the programmes MTU Maintenance overhauls.

Its value comes from the shop behind it. Airlines with an MTU maintenance contract can draw on a lease engine while their own unit is in the shop, under one commercial relationship. MTU also handles a large share of the GTF overhaul market, and the group expects powder-metal related groundings to largely resolve by the end of 2026.

BBAM is best known as an aircraft manager, with more than 400 aircraft under management, but it has quietly built a substantial CFM56 and LEAP engine portfolio. At Farnborough in July 2026 it placed its first direct order with CFM, for 30 LEAP spare engines.

For airlines already leasing BBAM-managed aircraft, it can bundle spare engine support into an existing relationship with more than 200 airline customers. Its arrival as a direct CFM buyer is a sign of how attractive spare engines have become as an asset class. See our ranking of aircraft asset management companies for other managers moving into engines.

AerFin is an aftermarket specialist that buys aircraft and engines, then leases, repairs or parts them out. It has carved out a niche in GTF engines, sourcing them by acquiring A320neo aircraft and redeploying the powerplants. In October 2025 it placed two PW1100 engines from its fifth A320neo acquisition.

It also covers older widebody engines, and in March 2026 it leased a CF6-80 to a major tier one airline. For buyers, its links to the teardown and part-out market mean it can find engines that are not available from manufacturers or larger lessors.