Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom and Ireland

Court of Appeal (England and Wales) grants war-risk insurers permission to appeal AerCap Russian aircraft losses: total loss and contingent insurance trigger issues

Published on: 02 April 2026

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

The Court of Appeal gave the insurers, which include Fidelis and Chubb, permission to challenge aspects of a decision that leaves them on the hook for a massive payout to AerCap, the world's largest aircraft lessor

Leading a two-judge bench, Justice Stephen Phillips said the court, having considered the submissions, would allow an appeal on every ground raised. At the 31 March 2026 hearing, Fidelis contended that a previous judge had erred in finding that all aircraft marooned in Russia were irretrievably lost to the lessors. In June 2025, Judge Christopher Butcher had concluded the losses engaged war-risk insurance — subject to payout limits — rather than the wider all-risk cover. AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, had claimed USD3.5 billion under the broader all-risk policy, but its recovery under the war-risk policy was limited to USD1.2 billion. Peter MacDonald Eggers KC of 7KBW, for Fidelis, submitted that the court had been wrong to decide there was a 'total loss' of the jets as at 10 March 2022. MacDonald Eggers added that the court had correctly determined that the...

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