The Australian High Court has let stand a lower court ruling that an Air Nauru Boeing 737-400 aircraft must be surrendered to a trustee for the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank).

The aircraft must be surrended to the U.S. bank in Melbourne morning at 10:15 a.m. (Sunday, December 18, Melbourne time).

Air Nauru stopped making payments on the aircraft in 2002.

Ex-Im Bank’s statement follows:

“Ex-Im Bank appreciates the difficulties that the Court’s decision presents to Air Nauru and the Government of Nauru. However, this action follows numerous unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a resolution and is now unavoidable in order to protect the interests of U.S. taxpayers.”

Ex-Im Bank, the official export credit agency of the United States headquartered in Washington, D.C., is in its 71st year of helping finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export credit insurance and direct loans.
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