US Air Leasing Company plans to write off $800 million from planes stranded in Russia

• An American aircraft leasing company intends to write off the value of 27 of its planes stranded in Russia.
• The delisting is expected to cost the company $802 million, according to a Reuters report.
• Aircraft charter companies have had a hard time due to new Russian legislation and EU sanctions.

A US aircraft leasing company said it will cancel the value of dozens of its planes stranded in Russia, according to Reuters.

According to the outlet, Air Lease Corporation grounded 27 aircraft in Russia after the start of the sanctions imposed by the West, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The delisting is expected to cost the company $802 million.

“It is unlikely that the company will regain possession of aircraft that were not returned and that remained in Russia,” Air Lease said in a statement, according to the outlet.

Air Lease Corporation did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment outside of normal business hours.

The aviation industry has been hit hard since the start of the Russian war with Ukraine. Air charter companies, in particular, bear the brunt of these penalties, forcing them to terminate their contracts with Russian airlines.

On February 27, the European Union and the European Union banned “any aircraft owned, leased or controlled by a Russian legal or natural person” as part of their sanctions against Russia.

Charter officials have given 30 days to recover their fleets, which means that $12 billion worth of planes will need to be removed from Russia and returned to their owners by the deadline, according to Ishka, a consultancy.

But the airspace ban in Russia, Europe and the United States has caused complications for air charter companies in getting to Russia to retrieve the planes.

Just last month, Russia also signed a new law allowing the confiscation of hundreds of Western-made aircraft operated by Russian airlines. The aircraft – originally owned by international aircraft lessors – will be added to the country’s aircraft registry to be deployed on local routes, according to Reuters.

Air Lease isn’t the only company experiencing difficulties. The world’s largest aircraft leasing company, AerCap, has more than 100 planes stranded in Russia and later filed an insurance claim for nearly $3.5 billion in asset loss.

According to Reuters, Air Lease will give up 21 of the company’s owned aircraft and six in its management fleet. It informed the port that it will pursue insurance claims to compensate for the losses of its planes stranded in Russia.