Carlyle Aviation Management, based in Dublin, has just launched a new round of legal claims in the UK related to jets that were taken by Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. The firm, alongside its subsidiaries, is taking action against AIG and Liberty, among others. For instance, Carlyle, Sasof III (D) Aviation Ireland DAC, and Wells Fargo filed a case against Axa XL Insurance and Liberty Corporate Capital. Another claim was submitted the other day, with Carlyle, Amber Aircraft Leasing, and Wells Fargo suing Chaucer Corporate Capital (No 3) Ltd and AIG’s UK division.
Accounts of Sasof III (D) revealed that it had three out of four of its aircrafts leased in 2020, totaling $27.7 million. The company reported a pre-tax profit of $4.1 million in the same period. Amber Aircraft Leasing records in 2021 showed that one of its aircrafts was extended up until April 2025, with a monthly rent of $160,000 from July 2021 to April 2022, and $140,000 from April 2022 to the end of the lease. The lease, however, was terminated in March 2022 in compliance with sanctions against Russia.
The accounts of Amber further stated that recovering the aircraft might be a long, difficult process. The company is still affirming insurance coverage for the same. As a result of the sanctions imposed on Russia due to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, many lessors based in Ireland had to terminate the leases they had with Russian carriers, and billions of dollars’ worth of aircraft and engines have been written off with no expectation of returning them.
Finally, an action was filed in London by two Carlyle Irish units against Convex Insurance and Liberty Corporate Capital. One of these units, Sasof III (A3) Aviation, had a jet in Russia at the time of the invasion, which was valued in millions of dollars and has already been written off. Amber’s accounts noted that this geopolitical and economic event has a great impact on the aviation industry, and that the future developments of the conflict are still uncertain. A number of aircraft lessors have already taken legal action against insurers and Russian carriers, among them Aeroflot, in connection with the seizure of their planes by Moscow.
