Analysis: Aircraft lessors gird to battle insurers over Russia jet default

Lessors with hundreds of jets stuck in Russia are preparing for what one said would be a "vigorous" pursuit of insurance claims while maintaining discreet contact with some customers after Moscow blocked the jets from leaving. The loss of over 400 leased planes worth almost $10b since Western countries sanctioned Russia has led to a string of lessors writing down hundreds of millions of dollars in recent weeks. But the lessors, speaking at a major industry conference in Dublin, said they may have to wait years to find out how much they will secure from unpredictable battles with insurers. In the meantime they face much higher insurance bills. "Practically speaking, I don't think anyone's expecting to get their planes back anytime soon ... mentally we're moving past it," said the head of US lessor Aircastle, which has booked $252m in impairment charges. "That doesn't mean our teams aren't still working and chasing, preparing for what we expect to be contested discussions with our insurance carriers," CEO Michael Inglese told the Airline Economics conference. Steven Udvar-Hazy, founder of Air Lease Corp, which has booked an impairment of $802.4m, said it was pursuing "vigorous" insurance claims. The largest claim has been made by AerCap, the world's biggest aircraft lessor, which has submitted a $3.5b insurance claim for more than 100 jets.<br/>