Terminated Airbus A330neos Left Stranded

Airbus A330neos previously positioned with Air Senegal have re-entered headlines as court proceedings progress at the London High Court.

Air Senegal continues to contest the termination of leases for two of its Airbus A330-900 jets from the A330neo family, citing disputes over ownership and economic rights.

The London High Court ruling paved the way for the lessor to return the jets to its owner; however, the Senegalese company opposes this, believing it still owns the jets.

The dispute ended the airline’s in-house long-haul operations and its attempts to scale its international flying, forcing it to finance and operate larger jets through leases or a new purchase agreement.

Why the leases of these Airbus A330neos were terminated

The two Airbus A330neos at the centre of the airline’s frustrations were acquired when state aid covered 30% of the acquisition cost, and European lenders financed the remaining 70%.

The Senegalese government then guaranteed the transaction, enabling Air Senegal to access two state-of-the-art next-generation jets to overhaul its widebody and international long-haul fleet.

However, the lease payments were intended to service the financing special purpose vehicle. Casamance Owner, which held legal title to the aircraft, argued that the arrangements were conventional dry leases.

The problem as a result of the dry leases was that when Air Senegal filed to meet its payment obligations, for which it is argued it was in breach, the lessor was entitled to move forward with the termination of the agreements and thus reclaim the aircraft while retaining the sums already paid under the terms agreed to in the initial contract.

Casamance Owner SARL and Wilmington Trust (London) Limited have since sought summary judgment after terminating the agreements. As part of the proceedings, the Commercial Court of the High Court in London found that the airline had no genuine prospect of successfully defending the claims for unpaid rent and the return of the aircraft.

The court’s decision, delivered last year, followed lease terminations after Air Senegal failed to pay rent on the units. Air Senegal reportedly continued paying rent until December 2025; after litigation began, the jets were repossessed in April 2026.

Air Senegal puts pressure on the decision

Air Senegal’s case in the High Court is that the transactions it identified were closer to a finance lease or a lease-to-purchase structure than a basic operating lease.

The airline’s position, therefore, on the aircraft in this case, based on reporting from the court, is that it paid an initial 30% equity contribution and has since paid more than half of the underlying loans, which has led to the argument that the termination of the leases should not extinguish its ownership or economic interest in the aircraft.

Air Senegal further maintains that the financing agreement remains in force, even though the jet leases have been terminated. The African carrier’s position was highlighted because a sovereign guarantee backed the jets’ financing, and the lenders relied on it as the dispute progressed to court.

The legal fight therefore covers multiple fronts. Dakar’s High Court referred the same Air Senegal case to arbitration in January 2026, and English proceedings have continued with summary judgments and aircraft recovery.

While this has been a legal process for Air Senegal, the absence of the two A330-900s from the long-haul network has also led to an exit from in-house long-haul operations since April 2026. One jet is parked in Dhaka; the other is stationed in Italy at a maintenance facility.

The outcome of these legal battles will determine whether Air Senegal can recover value from the payment it says it has already made for the jets, or whether the airframe owners’ contractual claims prevail.

Rebuilding long-haul operations beyond access to the A330neos rests on the decision, as recovering funds has broader consequences for future long-haul capacity and Senegalese financing guarantees.