RE: Mystery: Regos of leased a/c

Two additional items to complement an excellent answer:

Many Airbus Industrie aircraft which are leased maintain French registry (F-Oxxx if not operated by French companies) though they are operated by the leasee airline’s own crews. Part of the reason for this is that Airbus continue maintenance under many of these deals and the aircraft flies under French airworthiness rules, saving the airline the cost certifying the aircraft, particularly in third world or smaller countries. In many cases the leasing arm of Airbus is also maintains its insurance cover on the aircraft, charging the lessee.

The other reason is that, even where a type is certified in a country, if that country’s authorities will allow its nationals to fly foreign registered aircraft on service from that country, it may still be too expensive to register an aircraft for a short period and transfer all the insurance (plus the problem of the extra mounds of paperwork)