Held hostage
BY THE NUMBERS | Aircraft leasing companies have little recourse while Russia holds their assets
Illustration by Krieg Barrie
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$6.5 billion
The amount for which Western aircraft leasing firms are suing insurers after they couldn’t recover their aircraft from carriers in Russia following the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The companies’ October and November lawsuits are an acknowledgment they may never get their airplanes back.
509
The number of leased Western airplanes—valued between $10 billion and $12 billion—that were being held by Russian operators earlier this year, according to consulting firm IBA.
141
The number of planes in Russia that belong to AerCap, the world’s largest aviation lessor, according to a $3.5 billion lawsuit AerCap filed in the United Kingdom.
1,000
The number of airliners Russia plans to produce at a cost of nearly $23 billion to end its dependence on Western aircraft, the nation’s government announced in October.
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