Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 11, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
AerCap wins over $1 billion in a UK court ruling for jets stuck in Russia, following a legal battle with insurers over war risk claims.
LONDON (Reuters) -The world's largest aircraft lessor AerCap can recover over $1 billion in relation to jets stuck in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, London's High Court ruled on Wednesday, though that is less than the roughly $2 billion it sought.
The court ruled broadly in favour of leasing companies in a multi-billion-dollar legal dispute with insurers, following a mammoth trial of one of the biggest insurance disputes ever heard in London which concluded in February.
The lawsuit had focused on almost 150 jets and some engines, previously with a total value of up to $4.7 billion, though settlements – including on the first day of the trial in October – have whittled the numbers down.
Judge Christopher Butcher said in a summary of his ruling that the aircraft were lost and "that loss occurred on 10 March 2022, when a piece of Russian legislation banned the export of aircraft and aircraft equipment from Russia".
That meant the lessors could recover from their "war risks insurers", rather than under a broader all risks clause, as the cause of the loss was "an act or order of the Russian government", Butcher said.
The judge also ruled that insurers were not prevented by EU or U.S. sanctions from indemnifying the claimants for the loss of aircraft which had been leased to Russian airlines.
AerCap's law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer said the judgment secured $1.035 billion for AerCap, "in addition to substantial recoveries achieved in prior settlements".
The $1.035 billion sum is, however, less than AerCap's claimed losses of over $2 billion had it been able to recover under its all risks policy.
Butcher said in his ruling that AerCap had received just over $1.3 billion from six settlements between August and December 2023 with lessees and a Russian insurance company.
AerCap, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), Merx Aviation, KDAC Aviation Finance, Falcon and Genesis had led the claims against a string of insurers, including AIG, Lloyd's, Chubb and Swiss Re.
KDAC settled all its claims during the trial, Butcher said in his ruling, while AerCap, DAE and other lessors have periodically disclosed partial settlements.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar and Ed Osmond)
The UK High Court ruled that AerCap can recover over $1 billion related to jets that have been stuck in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.
The lawsuit focused on almost 150 jets and some engines, which had a total value of up to $4.7 billion.
The judge stated that the aircraft were lost due to a piece of Russian legislation that banned the export of aircraft and aircraft parts on March 10, 2022.
AerCap secured $1.035 billion from the court ruling, in addition to substantial recoveries achieved in prior settlements.
AerCap led claims against several insurers, including AIG, Lloyd's, Chubb, and Swiss Re.
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