ACMI and wet lease capacity for airlines and operators
Wet lease freighter capacity
A wet lease puts an aircraft, its crew, maintenance and insurance under your commercial control while the operator keeps the AOC. We source that capacity from the operator market and structure the term around your network, not around whatever is idle.
Submit a requirement any time — no account needed · first response usually within 60 minutes · 24/7 for AOG and time-critical. Optional: business account for status tracking
Wet lease in short
A wet lease supplies an aircraft together with crew, maintenance and insurance from the operator, while the lessee sells the capacity, pays fuel and charges, and carries the commercial risk. It is used to cover capacity gaps, seasonal peaks and network growth without adding an aircraft to your own AOC.
- Includes
- Aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance
- Typical term
- Weeks to multi-month programmes
- Pricing
- Block-hour rate plus monthly guarantee
- Start
- Days where rights and aircraft exist
Scope of service
Wet Lease
Operator supplies aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance; you carry fuel, charges and commercial risk.
- Wet lease and ACMI capacity, narrow-body to wide-body freighter
- Damp lease variations where you supply cabin or loadmaster crew
- Block-hour guarantee and utilisation modelling
- Traffic rights, permits and slot feasibility per lane
- Standby and back-up aircraft arrangements
Why source through CCN
ACMI structure
Operator supplies aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance; you carry fuel, charges and commercial risk.
Term flexibility
Short-term cover of weeks, seasonal programmes, or multi-month capacity with block-hour guarantees.
Operator screening
AOC validity, traffic rights, maintenance base and crew availability confirmed before an option is offered.
Direct to operator
One brokerage layer, not three.
In air cargo charter it is common for a requirement to travel through several intermediaries before it reaches the aircraft operator. Each layer adds its own commission to the same flight. We work directly with operators, so the quote you see carries one commercial layer.
Typical chain
- 01Shipper or forwarder issues the requirement
- 02Broker A takes the enquiry, adds margin
- 03Broker B or C is asked for capacity, adds margin
- 04Operator finally quotes the flight
With Cargo Charter Network
- 01You submit the requirement once
- 02We approach operators directly from our network
- 03You receive comparable options with one accountable contact
No stacked commissions
The requirement is not passed sideways to other brokers who each need to earn on the same lift.
No cost on top for you
We are remunerated by the operator. Our involvement does not add a separate fee to your charter price.
Faster and cleaner information
Payload, dimensions, ready date and airport constraints reach the operator unchanged, instead of being relayed through several desks.
Real comparison, not one option
Because we source across operators ourselves, you see the realistic market for that routing rather than whatever one intermediary could reach.
Availability, pricing and acceptance always remain with the operating carrier. Where a requirement can only be served through a partner, we say so before you decide.
How we work
Broker, not operator
Cargo Charter Network does not operate aircraft and employs no flight crew. Every flight is performed by a licensed operator we source, compare and coordinate.
Operator selection
Operators are checked for AOC validity, insurance, aircraft configuration and route authority for the specific mission before a price is put in front of you.
One accountable contact
The same person handles sourcing, contract, permits, handling and flight watch, so there is no handover gap between quote and arrival.
What we will not do
We do not quote capacity that has not been checked with an operator, and we do not confirm acceptance of restricted commodities before the operator has accepted them in writing.
Requirement enquiry
Send the requirement to the desk
Route, ready date and payload are enough for us to start checking operators.
Requirement data stays confidential; supplier identities and margins are never shared.
How to submit a requirement
How a requirement is handled.
You send the requirement straight to the desk — no account needed. We work it against operators immediately and come back with compared options.
- 01
Send the requirement
Route, ready date, weight, dimensions, commodity and handling notes — no account, a few minutes.
- 02
We check
Availability, payload and route permissions are checked directly with operators.
- 03
Receive options
Compared operator options with payload, slots, handling and timeline — one accountable contact.
- 04
Account (optional)
For status tracking and document exchange in the portal. Account verification is usually the same business day.
No supplier identities, margins or internal sourcing data are shared. Requirement data is treated confidentially.
Aircraft
- 01B737-800BCF and A321P2F for regional lift
- 02B757-200PF and B767-300F for mid-size programmes
- 03A330-200F, B777F and B747-400F for long-haul volume
- 04IL-76TD and An-124 for ramp and outsize loading
Availability is subject to route, payload, permits and operator acceptance.
Capacity structures
Four ways to buy the capacity
The same requirement can be bought as a whole aircraft, as a share of one, as reserved space on a running rotation or as leased capacity with crew. The structure decides the price far more than the aircraft type does.
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01
Full charter
One shipment fills a deck, or timing and commodity rule out sharing
You control the schedule, the loading plan and the routing.
02
Part charter
Volume fills part of a deck and the ready date tolerates consolidation
Cost is shared across shippers inside one build-up window.
03
Blocked space
Recurring volume on a lane that already has a rotation
A fixed allocation per flight, committed for a defined period.
04
ACMI / wet lease
Capacity is needed for weeks or months, not for one flight
Aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance leased against guaranteed block hours.
Fuel, ATC, airport charges, handling and de-icing sit outside an ACMI rate. On charter they are inside the quoted price unless stated otherwise.
Around the flight
What we coordinate besides the aircraft
A charter is only as good as the ground scope attached to it. These items are quoted and coordinated as part of the mission, not left to the shipper.
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Customs and documentation
Export and import entries, transit procedures, temporary export for repair, preferential origin papers and the broker interface at both ends.
ULD build-up and packing advice
Pallet and container build-up, load spreading, lashing plans and guidance where packaging would fail an operator acceptance check.
Trucking and last mile
Pre-carriage, on-carriage, air-ride equipment where needed, low-loaders and permitted road routes for outsize crates.
Permits and slots
Overflight, landing and cabotage permits, airport slots, night curfew handling and diplomatic clearances where they apply.
Temperature and monitoring
Cool storage, active or passive units, cool dollies, data loggers and shock or tilt indicators read at each handover.
Supervision and escorts
Loading supervision, attendants for live cargo, security escorts and sealed handovers for high-value consignments.
Lease structures explained
Wet lease, damp lease, dry lease
A wet lease is aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance from one operator, invoiced against a minimum monthly block-hour guarantee. A damp lease is the same package with part of the crew supplied by the lessee. A dry lease is the aircraft only, flown on the lessee's own AOC, which requires registration, crew and maintenance capability of your own.
Most cargo capacity gaps are solved with a wet lease because it needs no AOC work on your side and can start within days rather than months.
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What drives the rate
Block-hour rate, minimum guaranteed hours per month, positioning of the aircraft to the start base and the return at contract end are the four numbers that decide the total. A low block-hour rate with a high monthly guarantee is more expensive than it looks when utilisation is uneven.
Season matters. Wide-body freighter capacity between September and January is priced by scarcity, so early commitment on peak programmes usually beats a later spot deal.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Answers from daily desk work: payload, ready date, permits and cost drivers.
See all questionsAircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance from the operator. The lessee normally pays fuel, airport and navigation charges, handling and any commercial costs, and sells the capacity in its own name.
Where an aircraft is available and traffic rights exist, a start within a week is realistic. Programmes that need new permits, station approvals or crew visas need more lead time.
A contractual minimum of paid flight hours per month. It protects the operator against low utilisation and is the main lever in wet lease pricing alongside the hourly rate.
Per hour, usually yes, once the aircraft flies regularly. Below the guaranteed hours the effective cost per rotation rises quickly, so short or irregular needs are often better served by charter.
A single rotation is an ad-hoc charter, not a wet lease. We quote both and recommend the structure that fits the flying programme.
Talk to the desk
Urgent? Call the desk directly.
AOG and time-critical requirements can be raised by phone or email at any time — no account required.
- Phone
- +49 172 6111193
- Availability
- 24/7 for AOG and time-critical
- First response
- Usually within 60 minutes
Keep reading
Related services
Knowledge
- What is a cargo charter?How ad-hoc, full, part and series cargo charter work: pricing drivers, lead times, documen
- What is ACMI / wet lease?ACMI, wet lease, damp and dry lease compared: cost split, guaranteed block hours, regulato
- Cargo charter quote requirementsWhat a charter desk needs to price a freighter: route, ready date, weights, dimensions per
- Cargo charter cost driversCost guide
- How a cargo charter booking worksProcess guide
- Overflight and landing permits for cargo chartersCompliance guide
- Outsize and heavy air cargoLoading guide
- Temperature controlled air freightCool chain guide
Move the next mission
Send the requirement and the desk will come back with sourced options, or call now if it is time-critical.
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