AerCap submits $3.5 billion insurance claim for jets trapped in Russia

AerCap’s Chief Financial Officer Peter Juhas confirmed that the company has submitted an insurance claim for US$3.5 billion.

“We’ve issued termination notices in respect of all our aircraft and engines leased to Russian airlines, and we’ve taken aggressive steps to recover our assets. The net carrying value of the assets that we’ve removed to date is approximately $400 million, and we are currently assessing the condition of these aircraft,” Juhas said in a statement. “We have approximately $260 million of letters of credit related to our Russian assets that are not on our balance sheet.”

AerCap badly affected by sanctions on Russia

In the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, international sanctions were imposed on Russia. AerCap became one of the worst affected companies as it was forced to suspend multiple leasing contracts with the country. Before this time, lease agreements with Russia accounted for around five per cent of AerCap’s fleet value.

“We purchased insurance, which provides us with coverage when our aircraft or engines are not subject to a lease or where they are subject to a lease, but a lessee’s policy fails to indemnify us,” Aengus Kelly, CEO of AerCap, explained. “We intend to vigorously pursue all of our claims under these policies with respect to our assets leased to Russian airlines as well as all other legal remedies that may be available to us.”