EasyJet sued for $72M over six stranded Airbus A319s
Irish lessor STLC Europe Eight, a subsidiary of Russia's GTLK, is suing easyJet for at least $72 million. The lawsuit concerns six Airbus A319s that the airline abandoned, citing EU sanctions.
British low-cost carrier easyJet is facing a High Court lawsuit seeking a minimum of $72 million. The claim relates to six leased Airbus A319 aircraft that the airline allegedly abandoned after terminating their contracts following sanctions against Russia.
The plaintiff is STLC Europe Eight Leasing Limited. This Irish company is an aircraft-leasing subsidiary of GTLK Europe, which itself is the international leasing business of Russia's state-owned State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK). GTLK Europe had acquired the six Airbus A319s by March 2018, with easyJet's leases already active on the aircraft.
The Lawsuit's Core Claims
The lawsuit was filed in London's High Court and involves jets left in Madrid and Cyprus. The financial claim breaks down into several components. It includes at least $36.7 million for unpaid rent and interest, plus $32.5 million for lost aircraft value. A further €2.8 million is claimed for airport charges.
EasyJet has stated it will defend the case in full. The airline's position is that EU sanctions on Russia prevented it from maintaining or repairing the aircraft. STLC Europe Eight disagrees with this assessment, arguing that the planes were located outside Russia and that the leasing company itself was based in Ireland.
Aircraft Status and Condition
Three of the jets were stored in Cyprus and have since been recovered and sold by liquidators. The liquidators state that the poor condition of these aircraft lowered their sale prices. The remaining three aircraft, stored in Madrid, have not been sold.
Data from Cirium, cited by Bloomberg in April 2022, shows the aircraft were each more than 11 years old. Crucially, they had been in storage since March 2020. This was well before Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions dispute, coinciding with the start of the COVID-19 collapse in air travel. EasyJet confirmed the lease terminations to Bloomberg at that time.
The Sanctions Landscape
The European Union adopted broad aviation sanctions on February 25, 2022, the day after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. These measures restricted aircraft, spare parts, and equipment supplies to Russia, along with related maintenance, insurance, technical assistance, and financing. The intent was to cut Russian aviation off from Western support.
GTLK itself was added to the EU sanctions list on April 8, 2022. The sanctions froze its assets and restricted payments to the company. These restrictions could extend to companies owned or controlled by a sanctioned parent, meaning GTLK Europe's Irish registration did not automatically exempt it.
Liquidation Proceedings
Ireland's High Court had ordered GTLK Europe and GTLK Europe Capital into liquidation on May 31, 2023. It appointed liquidators to sell their assets and recover money to repay creditors. The lawsuit against easyJet is part of that asset recovery effort.
In a significant ruling in July 2023, an Irish court decided that independent liquidators controlled the Irish companies' assets. This decision removed an EU sanctions obstacle to recovering and selling those assets, although UK and US sanctions still applied.
