BOC Aviation’s Irish arm hit for €378m by seizure of aircraft in Russia

The Irish arm of aircraft lessor BOC Aviation recorded a pretax loss of $347.3 million (€312 million) last year due to the writedown of the value of 15 of the company’s aircraft based in Russia.

New accounts filed by the Dublin-based BOC Aviation (Ireland) Ltd show the business incurred a gross $571.5 million writedown on the aircraft stuck in Russia since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

That was partially offset by a $151 million gain from maintenance reserves and security deposits in relation to those aircraft, resulting in a net writedown of $420.5 million (€378 million).

BOC Aviation is one of a number of international lessors that have begun legal action against insurers in relation to payouts under policies taken out on the aircraft. .

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Earlier this month, in a separate legal action, it secured an extension of High Court orders freezing the assets of the Irish subsidiary of a Russian-owned air cargo company, Volga-Dnepr, amid fears it was attempting to move assets to frustrate a judgment the leasing company obtained last April in a New York court for $406 million.

The accounts explain that 15 of the firm’s aircraft based in Russia had their leases terminated in March 2022 in compliance with sanctions imposed on Russia by several nations arising from its invasion of Ukraine. The note states that “it is unlikely to be able to recover those aircraft from Russia in the foreseeable future, if ever”.

The company is a subsidiary of a publicly quoted BOC Aviation based in Singapore. The pretax loss of $347.3 million last year followed a pretax profit of $144.77 million in the prior year, even as income increased by 51 per cent from $412.38 million to $623.2 million, mainly due to the sale of aircraft and income arising from termination of leases.

Lease rental income dipped from $396.05 million to $383.55 million. At the end of last December the Irish subsidiary had an owned and managed fleet of 131 aircraft made up of 98 owned aircraft and 33 managed aircraft. Overall, the BOC Aviation group has a fleet of 635 aircraft, leased to 86 airlines in 39 countries, and total assets of $22 billion.

The value of the Irish company’s total assets declined from $5.2 billion to $4.9 billion, mainly due to the writedown of the 15 Russian-based aircraft.

The firm employs nine here and staff costs last year remained at the same level at $2.73 million. Directors’ pay last year fell 38 per cent to $1.09 million.