The Legal Battle Over $8 Billion of Aircraft – The Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine on the International Aviation Market

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia escalated on February 24, 2022, with Russia’s invasion by land, sea, and air.[1] Almost three years later, Russia continues to bombard Ukrainian cities, having already inflicted over 39,000 civilian casualties[2] and leaving millions displaced.[3] Nevertheless, Ukraine continues to recapture its occupied territory and defend its nation. One unique front for this conflict has been in airspace. Throughout the course of this invasion, Russia has passed a domestic law allowing re-registration of over 350 foreign aircraft to its own registry, which is not allowed under international law, and has caused many impacted nations to act through lawsuits and insurance claims.[4] Cases are currently being brought in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States as well as other international courts for aircraft lessors to reach insurance settlements for over $8 billion of trapped planes.[5] 

Aircraft can typically change registration internationally as part of ordinary business. However, when lessors ended contracts with Russia in response to the imposed sanctions, they anticipated repossession of their aircraft, which never occurred.[6] As a result, airworthiness certificates were revoked, which means the aircraft are not cleared to fly and should remain grounded.[7] Thus, Russia was faced with the decision of whether to ground the entire fleet because they lacked safety certifications or to re-register them domestically — ultimately choosing to illegally re-register over 350 aircraft.[8]

To receive compensation for these losses, many international lessors have transferred ownership to a Russian insurance company, NSK, which has begun to pay out some insurance claims to lessors. At the end of 2023, AerCap, a major Irish lessor, received approximately $572 million for 47 aircraft and 5 spare engines.[9] Originally, AerCap had filed a $3.5 billion lawsuit in June 2022, but in light of such recent insurance settlements from NSK, this figure has been reduced to $2.75 billion.[10] While there is still a long way to go to complete the settlement of these claims, the fact that there has been any settlement at all has garnered attention as being “the first known deal of its kind” since the imposed sanctions.[11] The largest lawsuit is ongoing in Dublin, with about forty cloaked barristers gathering almost daily to make determinations about who would be responsible for the losses.[12] The case is anticipated to take months, including legal fees for 180 lawyers, granting it the recognition of “one of the biggest and most complex commercial cases ever heard.”[13] Even though some settlements continue to be made, the court estimates it is unlikely to finish before April.[14] 

Undoubtedly such a landmark case will have a great impact on the international aviation market. Russia's illegal chartering actions have already had a dangerous ripple effect on the aviation industry. Alena Soloveva argues that the effects of such actions are devastating, and the need to stop this unfair competition is necessary, urgent, however also feasible.[15] Russia’s illegal claims on aircraft give them an unfair advantage creating ‘market distortion’ which upsets the balance of the productive competitive nature of the market.[16] 

 Most recently, carriers are warned not to fly over western Russia airspace because of incidents of unintentional targeting by air-defense systems.[17] On December 25, 2024, at least 38 people died in the Azerbaijan Airlines crash, for which President Vladimir Putin did not accept responsibility for.[18] U.S. officials and others across the world view this as further demonstrating Russia’s recklessness throughout the course of its invasion.[19] Russia’s actions have posed great dangers to the airline industry, the financial markets, and civilians across the globe. 

While the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued warrants for arrest on President Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova in March of 2023, no action has been enforced.[20] Now, in 2025, the war has slowed but nevertheless continues, and Ukraine continues to garner support from the U.S. and European nations. In the upcoming months, we will hopefully see the outcome of the AerCap and other lessor insurance cases, and further developments to protect airspace this year will be pivotal to the future of the aviation industry.

Dasha Babaytseva is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVIII.

[1] Ukraine conflict: Russian forces attack from three sides, BBC, Feb. 24, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60503037.

[2] Press Briefing Notes, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ukraine: Worsening impact on civilians of Russia’s attack, torture of prisoners of war, U.N. Press Briefing Notes (Oct. 1, 2024) https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2024/10/ukraine-worsening-impact-civilians-russias-attack-torture-prisoners.

[3] Center for Preventative Action, War in Ukraine,  Council on Foreign Rel., Jan. 9, 2025, https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-ukraine.

[4] Matthew Ormsbee, Unlawful Seizure: The Legal Implications of Russia’s Re-Registration Of Leased

Aircraft, 89 J. Air L. & Com. 193,194 (2024).

[5] Aviation lessor settlements with Russia over trapped planes, Reuters, (June 20, 2024), https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/aviation-lessor-settlements-with-russia-over-trapped-planes-2024-01-31/.

[6] Victoria Bryan, Data shows Russia has re-registered 360 aircraft after sanctions, Aerotime (Apr. 21, 2022, 12:55PM), https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/30800-russia-re-register-aircraft-iba-data.

[7] Id.

[8] How many aircraft are being illegally re-registered by Russian airlines?, IBA, Apr. 20, 2022, https://www.iba.aero/resources/articles/how-many-aircraft-are-being-illegally-re-registered-by-russian-airlines/.

[9] Andrew Curran, AerCap receives $572mm pay-out from Russian insurer, ch-aviation, Jan. 2, 2024, https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/135533-aercap-receives-572mn-pay-out-from-russian-insurer.

[10] Howard Jarvis, Aeroflot, AerCap “settle relations” over stranded aircraft, ch-aviation, Sept. 7, 2023, https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/131690-aeroflot-aercap-settle-relations-over-stranded-aircraft.

[11] Id.

[12] Lisa O’Carroll, Legal fight over €2.5bn worth of aircraft stuck in Russia plays out in Dublin, The Guardian, Jan. 10, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/10/legal-fight-over-25bn-worth-of-aircraft-stuck-in-russia-plays-out-in-dublin.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Alena Soloveva, Illegal Charters and Aviation Law, 239 (1st ed. 2022).

[16] Id. at 245.

[17] Europe’s aviation regulator issues new warning for Russian airspace, Reuters, (Jan. 10, 2025, 2:26PM), https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/europes-aviation-regulator-issues-new-warning-russian-airspace-2025-01-09/.

[18] Tucker Reals et al., What caused the Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan? Here’s what we know so far:, CBS News, Dec. 29, 2024, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-caused-azerbaijan-airlines-plane-crash-kazakhstan-what-we-know/.

[19] Id.

[20] International Criminal Court, Ukraine: Situation in Ukraine, ICC-01/22, https://www.icc-cpi.int/situations/ukraine. Maria Lvova-Belova is the Commissioner for Children’s rights. Alongside with Vladimir Putin, the charges against them for war crimes included unlawful deportation of citizens, including children, and unlawfully moving them into Russia from Ukraine. The ICC argued the transfers were not justified nor necessary, and that Russia did not have the authority to do so. However, because Russia is not a party to the Rome Statue which created the ICC, neither Putin nor Lvova-Belova would be able to be arrested or prosecuted within their own country. 

This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.