© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of CDB Aviation is shown in front of an image of an airplane and the Russian flag in this illustration, May 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
DUBLIN (Reuters) – CDB Aviation has become the latest airline lessor to take legal action against multiple insurance claims for its jets that have been grounded in Russia, according to an Irish High Court filing.
Ireland’s lender, China Development Bank (CDB), China’s biggest bank, still has nine aircraft in Russia after Moscow grounded nearly 400 planes in response to Western sanctions over its February invasion of Ukraine.
The 18 insurers named in the negotiations, which were presented on Nov. 15, includes Lloyd’s of London Ltd, Chubb (NYSE:) Ltd, Swiss Re (OTC:) AG and Great Lakes Insurance, a subsidiary of Munich Re.
The filing did not include details on the size of CDB’s reported fleet, which had a total of 384 aircraft at the end of June.
The cases are the third to be brought in the Irish courts following the actions of the directors Avolon and BOC Aviation Ltd.
Dublin-based AerCap Holdings NV, the world’s largest airline lender, in June filed a $3.5 billion lawsuit in London’s High Court over its insurance coverage of more than 100 seized planes, the biggest challenge for any lender involved in the dispute.
CDB Aviation recognized assets of 747 million ($105.4 million) in August but unlike many other airlines, did not write down the full value of its Russian jets because it saw “high potential” for future returns. .
It said at the time that it was still in active talks with Russian airlines to find ways to work to return the plane but that in the worst case it would have to write down the cost if it could not return them.
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