Full coverage: Aircraft leasing

For seven days, the world's biggest aircraft lessors laid out their claims to recover losses on planes beached in Russia due to the war in Ukraine. From sanctions to settlements, the defendants will now argue why cover is being denied.

As global airline profits bounce back near to 2019 levels, KPMG partner Joe O’Mara examines the factors driving this growth and the risks facing the global aviation industry, much of which is headquartered in Dublin.

Last July SMBC Aviation wrote off $1.6 billion as 34 of its jets were marooned in Russia with little hope of recovery. It is now following a well-beaten path to the Irish High Court to pursue its claims against its insurers.

The current tech rout comes after LinkedIn Ireland posted another set of healthy results, prompting its owner Microsoft to extract massive value from the company. Meanwhile, more aircraft lessors are suing their insurers over planes seized by Russia, while separate new High Court proceedings pit major state bodies against international partners.

When European sanctions hit aircraft leasing companies’ Russian contracts, they stood to lose everything. Co-ordinated industry and diplomatic lobbying resulted in their insurers being on the hook instead, new documents reveal.

Domhnall Slattery founded Avolon in 2010 as his own "Phoenix from the flames" after the financial crisis hit his investment business hard. He is retiring from a company among the largest in the global aircraft leasing industry.

Following recent missed payments on debts totalling $2.75 billion, bondholders including a British investment firm with Irish connections are considering their options against GTLK Europe.

Russia’s largest bank has sold its Irish aircraft leasing unit in the face of sanctions, with a new mystery backer appearing on its books. Meanwhile, Irish lessors threatened with the seizure of their Russian-based aircraft are combing through their insurance contracts.

As it pulls out of European banking markets, state-owned Sberbank is also unwinding finance arrangements for dozens of airliners leased to Russian clients out of a business park in Co Kildare.

Airlines have cut losses in 2021 but remain exposed to the pandemic and dependent on government supports. Yet KPMG's aviation finance chief Joe O'Mara explains that successive Covid-19 waves have revealed the aviation industry's ability to rebound.