Ionic Insights: The Installed Business Jet Fleet in Ukraine (January 2022)

Given the scale of the challenges faced by aviation over the past two years, the last thing the industry needs is war in Ukraine.

Whilst conflict remains unlikely, the ongoing rhetoric and build-up of military forces means that the potential for misunderstanding and mistakes is high. In addition to the obvious consequences for the people of Ukraine, there are significant concerns about the likely impact of military action upon freedom of navigation, flight safety, security of and access to civilian airfields, and the resultant disruption to commercial airline networks. 

Given that over forty percent of the installed base is self-managed, and a significant portion of the fleet is in the very-light/light and mid/super-midsize categories (including six out-of-production Hawker aircraft), the potential for large numbers of banks and financiers being impacted is low. However, for those that are it would be surprising if Risk and Asset Management staff hadn’t already begun the process of considering the location, security, and technical condition of their aircraft and hard-copy records, and the suitability of their borrowers’ insurance coverage.

Conflict or no conflict, it goes without saying that the impact of all of this upon the appetite of financiers to consider future aircraft lending in Ukraine (and other European nations near Russia) is yet to be fully understood; however, it is unlikely to be particularly helpful.

In this first in a series of country-specific studies, we investigate the size and nature of the installed base, the market’s leading management companies and operators, aircraft registries, and the habitual bases of the aircraft.

A summary of the installed business jet fleet in Ukraine, January 2022.