(Reuters) — A U.S. judge on Tuesday ordered Russia’s largest cargo airline to pay aircraft leasing company BOC Aviation Ltd. $406.2 million after being declared in default on leases for three Boeing 747-8 freighters following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan found defendant AirBridgeCargo Airlines LLC and its parent company, Volga-Dnepr Logistics BV, liable after the invasion and the resulting sanctions prevented BOC Aviation from repossessing the aircraft.
Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. BOC declined to comment.
Aircraft lessors have sued several insurers and lessees in primarily European courts for billions of dollars over hundreds of planes stuck in Russia since Russia̵
7;s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.BOC Aviation said AirBridgeCargo went bankrupt after failing to maintain required reinsurance.
This followed restrictions imposed by the European Union on Russian airlines on aircraft used in Russia, and Russian sanctions against foreign assets, including internationally leased aircraft.
BOC Aviation said it was able to recover one leased plane and two of its four engines, while the other two planes and two other engines remained in Russia.
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