Air Lease logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

By Nandan Mandayam, Dan Catchpole and Anshuman Tripathy

(Reuters) -Aircraft lessor Air Lease reported a higher third-quarter profit, as it benefits from robust demand and higher rates for leased jets and engines while production delays at Boeing and Airbus leave airlines with fewer options to expand fleets.

In September, Air Lease approved a $7.4 billion buyout offer from Sumisho Air Lease Corporation, a group of investors led by Japan's Sumitomo Corp and SMBC Aviation Capital, to create the world's largest aircraft leasing firm after industry leader AerCap. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Air Lease posted on Monday a net profit of $135.4 million, or $1.21 per diluted share, in the July-September quarter, beating the year-ago period's $0.82 per share.

Air Lease's profit included a $60 million benefit from settling insurance claims related to aircraft stranded in Russia after that country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As of November 3, the lessor has recovered 104% of its Russian fleet write-off recorded in March 2022.

The company said it added 13 aircraft in the third quarter, expanding its fleet to 503 aircraft.

It has 228 aircraft on order. Given the high global demand for aircraft, it already has leases for nearly all jets it has on order through 2027 and has leased 64% of aircraft delivering through 2031.

In the first nine months of the year, Air Lease added 10 Airbus A220-300 narrow-body jets, giving it a total of 32, a 45% increase over its fleet at the end of 2024.

The company also added 15 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jetliners, for a total of 74, a 25% increase, and four of the larger 737 MAX 9 variant, bringing its fleet to 34 aircraft.

Airbus' A321neo still makes up the biggest part of its overall fleet - 109 of the popular single-aisle jetliner, or nearly 22% of its planes.

The company shed some older-generation single-aisle jets this year, including 14 Boeing 737-800s and six A320s.

Rival AerCap last week topped quarterly profit and revenue estimates and said demand for aircraft rentals will remain strong.

(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Editing by Chris Reese and Jamie Freed)