DUBLIN, IRELAND — Commercial aircraft leasing company Avolon says its balance-sheet exposure to planes held in Russia at under $200 million.

Avolon Ceo Dómhnal Slattery said they would make insurance claims to recover the company's potential losses. Avolon currently has ten aircraft stranded in Russia. The lessor had been able to repatriate four aircraft leased to the Russian airline operators.

The Dublin-based lessor scraped all its contracts with Russian carriers when sanctions have begun. Avolon also committed to drawing down deposits and letters of credit from Russian customers.

Avolon's CEO did not reveal what portion of the remaining $200 million at risk will be covered by insurers. The lessor has less exposure to the Russian market than rivals AerCap and SMBC Aviation Capital. Its leased planes to Russian carriers stand for around only 1% of its entire fleet.

But its assessment is informative for investors trying to estimate potential losses of leasing companies and how much will be paid by insurance firms such as Lloyd’s of London.


“We believe that our possessed contingency insurance is in place and is entirely valid,”

Slattery said during n interview with Bloomberg.


“And we have complied with all of the conditions of those insurance policies,” 

he added.

Also Read: Russia's foreign aircraft seizure to risk historic aviation insurance loss
Insurance claims could total $10 billion, the highest amount could ever be seen in civil aviation insurance history, Fitch Ratings said in a report last week.

Lloyd’s CEO John Neal told Bloomberg Television that those figures were for aircraft values, and the liability of insurers should be limited to about 10% to 15% of them.

During an interview with Ireland’s RTE Radio before, Slattery said that the value of the 14 Avolon-owned airliners with Russian carriers is about $400 million.

Leasing firms and their auditors are discussing what financial provisions should be made regarding their exposures, Slattery told Bloomberg.

You’ll see how that plays out over the next month or so when the various aircraft leasing companies report.

AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor has 142 aircraft held by Russian Airlines as of March 10, according to consulting firm IBA. The company will report first-quarter results on Wednesday.


The Russian government has so far transferred the registrations of 800 foreign lessor-owned airplanes to Russian registration, although most of them are subjects to jurisdictions in Bermuda and Ireland. While lessors have the right to repossess their planes under international laws, there is no proper way of implementing them, industry experts say.