Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

English High Court rules aircraft seized in Russia lost: war risk cover triggered; EU sanctions not a bar; permanence of deprivation test clarified for aviation, marine and political risk claims

Published on: 19 June 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

Lawyers say the outcome of the three-year High Court battle over 147 planes and 16 engines has global implications for insurers facing demands for billions of dollars in repayments in multiple jurisdictions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

On 18 June 2025, Judge Christopher Butcher ruled that ‘the aircraft have been lost’, meaning the providers of war risk cover must pay out to the owners and lessors under the relevant war risk policies. Aaron Le Marquer, a partner at Stewarts Law LLP, said the decision ‘will be directly relevant to other disputes over losses flowing from assets stranded in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine’, noting that outside aviation such claims are typically brought under political risk policies. A consortium of six leasing companies, among them AerCap, issued proceedings against AIG, Lloyd’s of London and Chubb after Russian carriers refused to return their jets, which had been held as part of counter-sanction measures. Following EU sanctions, the lessors terminated their agreements with Russian airlines and sought the return of the aircraft. Instead, the operators re-registered the planes in Russia and continued to operate them...

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