easyJet sued in London for at least $72 million
A lawsuit for at least $72 million has been filed against British low-cost carrier easyJet in the High Court of London in the United Kingdom over six leased Airbus A319 aircraft. Irish leasing company STLC Europe Eight Leasing Limited claims that the carrier allegedly left the aircraft in Madrid and Cyprus after terminating the lease agreements, citing sanctions against Russia. easyJet said it would fully defend itself in the case, AeroTime reports.
Leasing company’s claims
STLC Europe Eight Leasing Limited is an Irish subsidiary of GTLK Europe, the international leasing business of Russia’s state-owned State Transport Leasing Company, GTLK. By March 2018, GTLK Europe had acquired these six aircraft, and their lease agreements with easyJet were already in force.
According to the Financial Times, the claims include at least $36.7 million in unpaid lease payments and interest, $32.5 million in loss of aircraft value, and €2.8 million in airport charges. Three aircraft stored in Cyprus were later returned and sold. The liquidators believe that their condition reduced the sale price. Another three aircraft in Madrid have still not been sold.
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Sanctions dispute
easyJet states that EU sanctions against Russia did not allow it to maintain or repair the aircraft. STLC Europe Eight Leasing Limited disagrees, stressing that the aircraft were outside Russia and that the leasing company is registered in Ireland.
All six Airbus A319 aircraft were withdrawn from service as early as March 2020, at the start of the sharp decline in air travel caused by COVID-19. In April 2022, Bloomberg, citing Cirium data, reported that each aircraft was more than 11 years old. The sanctions dispute arose after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, an aggressor state: the EU imposed broad restrictions on the aviation industry on February 25, 2022, and GTLK was added to the sanctions list on April 8, 2022.
On May 31, 2023, the High Court of Ireland ordered the liquidation of GTLK Europe and GTLK Europe Capital and appointed liquidators to sell assets and return funds to creditors. In July 2023, an Irish court found that the assets of these companies were controlled by independent liquidators. This removed an obstacle related to EU sanctions for recovering and selling the assets, although UK and US sanctions remained in force.
