Most FAR Part 91 business aircraft can be depreciated under the IRS' five-year schedule. However, if an aircraft is used for commercial transportation, or if it spends the majority of its time outside the United States, the seven-year schedule must be used. Lessors generally won't require you to stay in the United States or to keep an aircraft off a Part 135 certificate. But they will get upset if their lease is based on a set of assumptions that doesn't pan out. In legal parlance, it's called triggering an indemnity clause, and that means lawyers get involved.
Insurance also can drive geographical considerations.
Leases generally stipulate that the operator carry both liability and hull insurance, and policies, which are the operator's responsibility, often govern where an aircraft can fly. Insurance provisions typically are carried in a side letter to the lease that prevents hungry lawyers from knowing exactly how much coverage might be in play. But suffice it to say that, in general, lessors have deep pockets, and they usually require operators to carry enough liability coverage to make sure no one's fingers get in them. Leases also include a schedule that shows how much hull coverage the operator must maintain at any given time. Often, the insurance stipulation carries a premium of as much as 15 percent over the actual value of the airframe to account for the loss of depreciation that the lessor experiences if the airplane is totaled.