Oct 2 (Reuters) - SMBC Aviation Capital on Monday said it had received a cash insurance settlement of $710 million for its jets previously leased to Russia's state-owned airline Aeroflot.
The aircraft lessor said the settlement amount reflects the amount claimed by SMBC under Aeroflot's insurance related to 16 aircraft and their engines. An additional insurance settlement has been concluded for one aircraft and its associated engines managed by SMBC.
Before the invasion of Ukraine last year, Russia was a major market for aircraft lessors, which bought jets from Boeing and Airbus and leased them to airlines in the country.
These planes were stranded in Russia as Moscow refused to release the jets after lessors canceled lease agreements to abide by sanctions from the West.
Earlier last month, the world's largest aircraft lessor, Aercap, said it had agreed to settle an insurance claim over Russia's refusal to return 17 jets leased to Aeroflot.
SMBC Aviation said it would continue its efforts to seek to mitigate its losses related to aircraft previously leased to Russian airlines. (Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
