Investment firm 777 Partners is being pursued by lessors of four aircraft formerly operated by Canadian carrier Flair Airlines, over allegations of non-payment.
Court filings obtained by FlightGlobal show that the dispute centres on three Boeing 737 Max 8s and a single 737-800 – respectively with serial numbers 61806, 64944, 61808 and 36548.
Irish entities Corvus Lights Aviation, Columba Lights Aviation and MAM Aircraft Leasing 4 are seeking a total of nearly $28.5 million according to filing to the UK High Court.
It identifies the defendants as 777 Partners – which is an investor in Flair Airlines, and has interests in the sports and finance sectors – and associate 600 Partners.
Both 777 Partners and 600 Partners entered various deeds of guarantee and indemnity in March-April 2022, says the filing, under which they agreed to cover any non-payment of leases.
The filing states that the lessors served default notices on Flair Airlines in February last year regarding outstanding payments amounting to $1.8 million on the four aircraft.
After following up with demands to relevant guarantors, and sending additional default notices, the lessors served a notice of intention to enforce security – subsequently terminating the leases to Flair in March 2023.
The lessors are pursuing damages to cover rental costs, losses of future income, and costs to recover and reconfigure the aircraft.
Corvus is claiming $2.43 million from 777 Partners, while MAM and Columba are respectively claiming a total of $16.67 million and $9.35 million from both defendants.
The lessors state that legal action is a “last resort”, adding that 777 Partners “cannot just ignore its financial and contractual obligations”.
FlightGlobal has contacted both 777 Partners and Flair Airlines for comment.
Flair Airlines had previously described the termination of the leases, in March last year, as “unlawful and immeasurably destructive actions”, as it took its own legal action over the matter, filing with the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice.
