Aircraft leased by TransAer, the Dublin airline now in liquidation, have been seized by Libyan Arab Airlines and Egyptair.
Aer Rianta has held two aircraft leased by TransAer since late on Friday, the day its liquidator was appointed. The airline is believed to owe £200,000 (€253,948) in unpaid landing fees and charges to Aer Rianta.
Yesterday, TransAer's former management said two Airbus A320-type aircraft were being held in Tripoli by the Libyan airline. They are worth $30$40 million (€36-€48 million) each and are owned by ILFC, a division of US group AIG.
The Egyptian airline is holding an Airbus A300, worth about $20 million, in Cairo. It is owned by GECAS, a subsidiary of the US multinational GE Capital which operates the former GPA business at Shannon.
Another Airbus A300 owned by GECAS is one of those seized on Friday by Aer Rianta. The State-owned airports company is also holding an Airbus A320 owned by a Japan-based company, Orix Aviation, which has an operation in Dublin.
Management at TransAer, which was 91 per cent-owned by a Sligo-born businessman Mr PJ McGoldrick, said owners of the aircraft were in contact with lawyers representing TransAer customers who seized the aircraft.
About 545 people - 298 in the Republic - will lose their jobs as a result of TransAer's collapse. The company blamed the Kosovo war and the examinership since September of its US-based trading partner for its demise.
Orix Aviation's director in Dublin, Mr David Power, declined yesterday to comment when asked about the aircraft held by Aer Rianta. It is thought Orix repossessed a A320 leased by TransAer at Mexico City last weekend. TransAer leased two more A300s from GECAS and another four A320s from ILFC.
Aer Rianta confirmed last night that a Transaer plane flew into Dublin Airport on Sunday to the FLS maintenance hangar, changed its registration from anEI to a B call sign and left for Bristol. It is not one of the two impounded planes.
