As Reinsurers Face Trial Over Russia-Stranded Jets, a New Edition Maps Aviation Finance Risk
On 5 October 2026, a new High Court trial opened in London testing whether aircraft lessors can recover losses from reinsurers for jets stranded in Russia since Western sanctions forced lease terminations in 2022. The case turns on Russian-law "cut-through" clauses in operator policies arranged by the Russian airlines themselves, and follows a separate June 2025 High Court ruling on the lessors' own war-risks policies that has already produced appeals worth well over a billion dollars. Four years on from the sanctions shock that stranded hundreds of leased aircraft, the industry is still litigating who bears the loss — lessor, airline, insurer or reinsurer — and the answer is being built case by case, in real time, in London's courts.
It is exactly this terrain — how aviation finance actually absorbs political and credit risk — that the sixth edition of Aircraft Financing (Bloomsbury Professional), edited by aviation finance specialists William Glaister and Rob Murphy, sets out to map. Updated to reflect the post-2022 market, the volume expands its treatment of sanctions and export controls, credit rating agencies, and aircraft repossession alongside its established coverage of leasing structures, cross-border tax and capital markets financing — the full toolkit lessors, lenders and their counsel reach for when a deal, or a jurisdiction, turns risky.
For a librarian building a finance or aviation law collection, the book's value shows up in exactly the kind of dispute now before the London courts. A banking and finance reader can use Part II's chapter on sanctions and export controls to understand why the reinsurance trial turns on when and why an aircraft is deemed "lost." A corporate or insurance law reader can turn to the insurance and repossession chapters to see how policy structures and cut-through clauses are meant to work before a dispute like AerCap's ever reaches trial. And a graduate finance or MBA reader researching portfolio risk can use the credit rating agencies chapter to connect sovereign and counterparty risk directly to aircraft asset values — precisely the mechanism now being tested in real litigation.
For institutional and academic libraries serving finance, law or aviation faculties, Aircraft Financing is a core acquisition rather than a peripheral one: a practitioner-written, internationally sourced reference that stays current with a market still working through its largest sanctions event in decades, and a natural complement to any collection already holding insurance, banking or international trade law titles.
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Q&A
What does the sixth edition of Aircraft Financing add on sanctions and risk?
It expands coverage of sanctions and export controls, credit rating agencies and aircraft repossession, reflecting how the market has had to adapt since 2022.
Why are aircraft lessors suing reinsurers over jets stranded in Russia?
Lessors are testing whether Russian-law "cut-through" clauses in operator-arranged policies let them claim directly against reinsurers, after a separate 2025 ruling on their own war-risks policies produced appeals worth over a billion dollars.
How does the book explain the role of insurance in aircraft financing deals?
Part III includes a dedicated chapter on insurance, setting out how policy structures are meant to allocate risk between lessors, lessees and insurers before a dispute arises.
Who should read Aircraft Financing?
Aviation finance professionals, aircraft lessors and lenders, aviation and finance lawyers, investors and financial analysts, and academic and institutional libraries building finance or aviation law collections.
Where can I buy Aircraft Financing?
Aircraft Financing (6th edition) by William Glaister and Rob Murphy is available now from CLNZ Books, with worldwide shipping included.