The trustees of Virgin Australia (VA, Brisbane International) have been urged to pay out an AUD101.4 million Australian dollars (USD72.2 million) claim by Singapore-based lessor Avation.
This follows the conclusion of litigation in this regard in Australian courts, with no adjustments to the claims, Avation said in a statement. “Avation has a view that there should be no further time delay by the trustees and they should now pay out the claims proportionately,” the company said.
It said a group of nine lessors, including Avation, had taken legal action in Australia asserting that while the administrators of Virgin Australia had control of the lessors’ aircraft, they should pay rent, as well as certain costs associated with their return to airworthiness, potentially as priority claims in the administration. This litigation had now been concluded with no adjustment to the claims and with no priority claim allowed, Avation said.
The company at present had no active litigation with Virgin’s trustees nor any of its other clients, it added.
The lessor said it had previously been advised by the creditors’ trust that its claims against Virgin Australia and associated entities in its administration had been adjudicated by the trustee and admitted for the combined sum of AUD 101.4 million.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Virgin Australia had leased three ATR72-500s and three ATR72-600s from Avation, of which several are in maintenance at Cairns.
Virgin Australia (VA, Brisbane International) operates sixty B737-800s and two B737-700s (wet-leased from Alliance Airlines (QQ, Brisbane International)) while Virgin Australia Regional operates seven A320-200s and ten Fokker 100s (due to be retired). Virgin Australia International (VA, Brisbane International), for which the entire fleet operates, employs a further fifteen in-house B737-800s.
Since its re-launch after it exited voluntary administration on November 18, 2020, following a buy-out by Bain Capital, the Virgin Australia Group has announced it will gradually transition out the F100 fleet operated across Western Australia and replace them with B737-700s from the first quarter of 2023. The airline intends to grow its B737 fleet by more than 50% to 88. It also has twenty-five B737-10s scheduled for delivery from mid-2023 in a restructured deal with Boeing that originally also included twenty-three B737-8s.
