Mega-trial £2.1bn fight over planes stranded in Russia

Sitting in a nondescript building near the high court in Dublin, about 40 cloaked barristers have gathered almost daily since June last year.

- Lisa O'Carroll

At stake is £2.1bn tied up in aircraft stranded in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

Behind screens and a mountain of warehouse boxes, they are fighting to determine who should pay for the losses - the aircraft lessors or insurance companies including Lloyds and AIG.

The case is due to go on for months, with legal fees for the 180 lawyers in court and behind the scenes potentially running into hundreds of millions of pounds.

Along with a parallel case being heard in London's high court, it is one of the biggest and most complex commercial disputes ever heard. The mega-trials centre on claims made by the world's largest aircraft lessors against insurers, including Lloyds, AIG and Chubb, relating to losses caused by the stranding of about 400 planes in Russia.

Western sanctions forced lessors to cancel their contracts with Russian airlines by 28 March 2022, leaving a huge array of aviation assets out of reach.