The invasion of Ukraine and the resultant sanctions on Russia will “cripple” aircraft lessors, airlines, and their supply chains, according to aircraft leasing sources. High Yield issuers including lessor Voyager Aviation, Hungarian carrier Wizz Air and Finnair are likely to be hit hard, according to industry sources.

“You want to pinch yourself,” said one aircraft leasing source. Coming quick on the heels of the 737 MAX grounding and pandemic lockdowns, this third black swan event in as many years has stunned many in a sector still long-Covid symptomatic — grounding not only aircraft out of reach, but also restricting access to air space, insurance policies and necessary spare parts.

Correspondingly, euro-denominated bonds issued by airlines have slumped disproportionately compared to the wider market sell-off over the past month, clocking in at average -4.8 points, according to 9fin data.