Dubai: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has said that about 7 per cent of the company’s leased aircraft fleet by net book value was on lease to airlines in Russia.
DAE said it intends to “fully comply” with all applicable sanctions including those which currently prohibit the leasing of aircraft to an entity in Russia or for use in Russia. “DAE is ensuring an orderly unwinding of the existing leases with operators in Russia, and the removal of aircraft from Russia within the relevant wind down period permitted in the sanctions.”
The rapid lifting of COVID-related travel restrictions is translating into higher levels of demand for short- and long-haul passenger aircraft. DAE is actively responding to inbound requests from clients for additional aircraft, said the aircraft lessor.
DAE also announced that the Board of Directors had affirmed the use of the remaining bond repurchase authorization of about $220 million to commence bond repurchases through open market transactions.
Aviation data firm Cirium said that aircraft lessors may be impacted as a result of the widespread economic sanctions, which could result in operators’ ability to pay monthly rentals and maintenance reserves. Lessors domiciled outside of Russia currently have some 515 commercial jets and turboprops leased to airline operators in Russia, with an indicative market value of almost $10 billion, said Cirium.
“That represents some 3.2 per cent of the overall value of the global lease portfolio today. Hence, the conflict could turn out to be exceedingly bad news for lessors,” said Cirium.
