Leasing of aircrafts is a prevalent market practice in the aviation industry, and all existing airline operators in India have currently leased a significant number of aircrafts in their fleet. In fact, a sizeable debt in the books of these operators is in connection with such leasehold arrangements.

In the event of a contractual counterparty going into liquidation, whether or not a trade counterparty may claim set-off against debts owed to the insolvent counterparty can dramatically affect the commercial position of the account debtor. This was recently highlighted in the decision of Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd v Forge Group Power Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) (Receivers and Managers appointed) [2017] WASC (2 June 2017).

What does this mean for you?