Air Europe therefore sought business partners whose seasonality was counter-cyclical to its own so that its surplus aircraft could be leased out to other operators in winter and those operators' surplus capacity could be leased in for the busy summer period. Air Europe agreed an aircraft lease-swap with Air Florida, which commenced at the start of the 1980/81 winter season. Under this deal, Air Europe leased three of its aircraft to Air Florida to cover that airline's peak season, which occurred in winter. In return, Air Florida leased two of its aircraft to Air Europe to cover the UK airline's summer peak period. The number of aircraft Air Europe leased from Air Florida during the summer months subsequently increased to three.