High court in London rules companies can recover losses from insurers for aircraft stuck since invasion of Ukraine
Aircraft leasing companies have won a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against insurers in relation to planes stranded in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The high court in London ruled in favour of six leasing firms including Ireland’s AerCap and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) that had brought a $4.7bn (£3.4bn) lawsuit in one of the biggest insurance disputes ever heard in the UK.
In a 230-page judgment on Wednesday, Mr Justice Butcher ruled that the planes had been “lost” in March 2022 and the aircraft leasing companies could therefore recover losses from their “war risks insurers” AIG, Lloyd’s, Chubb and Swiss Re, as the cause of the loss was “an act or order of the Russian government”.
It is a substantial blow for insurers, which have also faced a separate £2.5bn claim in Dublin. The two cases have been called “mega trials” and involved hundreds of barristers and solicitors.
