Aircraft Repossession Under Leasing Arrangements Pursuant to Article 83bis Chicago Convention

Abstract

Article 83bis of the ‘Chicago Convention of International Civil Aviation’ provides a scheme that allows the transfer of air safety and operation surveillance duties in the context of aircraft lease and charter arrangements from one state to another. The flexibility offered by the ‘Article 83bis scheme’ is frequently used to arrange lease transactions and lease-finance transaction in countries where leasing companies and financiers are otherwise hesitant to deal with due to reservations against the legal environment prevailing in such countries. This article analyses the pitfalls and hidden issues of such Article 83bis schemes from the perspective of a leasing company or financier.