Domhnal Slattery said that Russian airlines could be out of the aircraft leasing market “for a long time”, beyond the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.
Slattery, CEO of Avolon, the world’s second-largest lessor (behind GECAS-Aercap), told Reuters that its exposure in Russia is limited, with only ten aircraft remaining in the country, valued at around $200 million. The executive noted that the company recovered four aircraft since the beginning of the conflict.
“Taking into account our scale, this is more of a minor inconvenience than a problem,” the executive said. “All our aircraft are insured and all leasing contracts were terminated. Beyond this, obviously, we will continue to try to recover the aircraft,” he added.
See also: Russian airlines have lost nearly 80 aircraft due to sanctions
Slattery, on the other hand, mentioned that while for his company the losses are not significant, the leasing sector will be under no pressure to re-establish relations with Russian airlines, even if sanctions against the country are lifted. “From Avolon’s perspective, the situation is of no major importance. From the industry’s perspective, it’s certainly a big issue,” he mentioned in reference to the nationalization of foreign aircraft that the Russian government introduced earlier this month, essentially confiscating the lessor’s property.
“I think all participants in our industry will think long and hard about the risks of doing contracts with Russia in an eventual post-war scenario,” the executive added.
The Russian airline industry, the world’s 11th largest, had 980 aircraft in its fleet on the eve of the invasion of Ukraine. Of these, 777 were operating on a lease, with about 75% of them (515) having been acquired from foreign companies.
