Updated . Educational only — not tax, legal, or lending advice. Confirm figures with your CPA, the state revenue department, and a lender before you close.
What “the Rate” Meant in 2026
There is no single aircraft loan rate. On January 22, 2026, AOPA reported that AOPA Finance was seeing aircraft finance rates “in the low 6 percent range,” and described 5- to 20-year terms for qualified buyers, after a period of higher borrowing costs. That sentence is a market anecdote from a large specialty desk, not a rate sheet, and it is already a point in time. Get a written quote before you rely on it.
What moves your number off that anecdote
- Credit and reserves. Recent delinquencies and thin liquidity cost more than a few years of average credit.
- The aircraft. Age, time, damage, and how many of them trade. Experimental and one-off modifications often do not get a quote at all.
- Down payment and LTV. Personal-use pistons are often in a 15–20% down conversation; leaseback needs more. See down payments.
- Term and balloon. Stretching term or adding a balloon changes the payment more than a quarter-point sometimes does. Model both in the calculator.
- Fixed or variable. How to choose.
How to use this page
Type a low-6s assumption and a higher stress case, same term and down payment, and read the payment difference. If the stress case breaks your budget, you cannot afford the airplane at a low-6s hope. The 2025 page is historical only: read a 2025 quote as history. If a quote moves before closing, use what to do when a quote moves. That page is not a claim that rates are rising.
Questions buyers actually ask
Is 6% what I will be offered?
Maybe, if you and the aircraft look like the borrowers AOPA was describing. Maybe not. The only number you can take to a seller is a written quote.
Do you publish a daily rate?
No. This site is a calculator and a guide, not a lender.