As the COVID-19 pandemic and related decrease in international travel throw the worldwide aviation industry into disarray, an increasing number of businesses in the aviation supply chain are struggling to meet their contractual obligations. As an obvious consequence, many lawyers are looking at force majeure clauses as a last resort to relieve their clients of the most burdensome contracts or elements thereof. Most aircraft lease agreements are governed by English law, with a “hell or high water” clause requiring lessees to make lease payments regardless of whether an aircraft is operating normally or grounded. However, many aviation contracts (related to maintenance, ground handling, rental of airport facilities, charters etc.) are drafted under local laws and are therefore subject to various interpretations of force majeure. DFDL’s team of aviation experts has analyzed whether contractual parties may rely on COVID-19 as a force-majeure event in seven of the firm’s jurisdictions across Southeast Asia.
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