London, United Kingdom: British low-cost carrier easyJet is facing a lawsuit seeking at least $72 million from STLC Europe Eight, an Irish aircraft-leasing company linked to Russia’s state-owned State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK), over six Airbus A319 aircraft that were left at airports in Spain and Cyprus after easyJet terminated their leases in 2022, according to court proceedings.
The lawsuit was filed in the High Court in London and alleges that easyJet unlawfully abandoned the six leased Airbus aircraft after ending the leases in April 2022. According to the claim, the aircraft were left at Madrid Airport in Spain and Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus, where they remained without the maintenance the lessor says was required, while airport storage charges continued to accumulate. STLC argues that easyJet was not entitled to terminate the leases and that the EU sanctions cited by the airline did not prevent it from fulfilling its contractual obligations because the aircraft were outside Russia and the leasing company was based in Ireland.
STLC is seeking at least $36.7 million in unpaid rent and interest, $32.5 million for the loss in aircraft value and €2.8 million in airport fees. The lessor said the final amount could increase because the financial loss associated with the three aircraft still at Madrid had not yet been fully quantified. The three aircraft previously held at Larnaca were eventually recovered and sold, but STLC claims their condition resulted in them fetching at least $32.5 million less than their expected value.
easyJet has said it intends to defend the claim in full. An easyJet spokesperson said: “easyJet intends to defend the claim in full”, while declining to comment further because the matter is subject to ongoing litigation. No separate public statement from a UK or EU aviation authority concerning the specific lawsuit was identified in the reports reviewed.
The dispute dates back to 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the resulting Western sanctions. easyJet had leased the six aircraft from STLC Europe Eight and informed the lessor in April 2022 that it was terminating the leases because it believed EU sanctions prevented it from maintaining or repairing the aircraft. STLC’s legal position is that those sanctions did not prevent the airline from continuing to meet its obligations under the leases.
The aircraft were subsequently left at airports outside Russia. Three remained at Larnaca in Cyprus before being recovered and sold, while three others remained at Madrid and had not been sold when the latest reports were published. The case is part of a much wider wave of disputes involving aircraft lessors, airlines, insurers and reinsurers following sanctions imposed on Russia, which left numerous leased aircraft caught in complex ownership, insurance and recovery disputes.
The easyJet case also follows a major ruling in the wider aircraft-leasing dispute. The London High Court ruled last year that a group of insurers was liable for losses involving aircraft stranded in Russia, putting AerCap, the world’s largest commercial aircraft owner, in line for a payout exceeding $1 billion.
The easyJet case remains before the High Court, and the allegations made by STLC have not been determined by the court.
