This Quora answer is a good resource too: https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-airplane-leasing-business-work-Why-do-airlines-buy-the-planes-then-sell-them-to-a-

This Quora answer is a good resource too: https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-airplane-leasing-business-work-Why-do-airlines-buy-the-planes-then-sell-them-to-a-leasing-company-and-then-lease-it-back https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-airplane-leasing-business... The TLDR is that leasing allows the airline a lot more flexibility in acquiring aircraft (and returning them if demand changes). It's cheaper to break the lease than try to sell a used aircraft on the open market. In the case of A380, it's probably keeping a few airlines out of bankruptcy.