Page 22 - Insurance Times June 2024

Current

Development in

Aviation Insurance

Anabil Bhattacharya
Group Managing Director
Former Chief Manager
H.O., N.I.C.L., Kolkata

In the global aviation industry, including airlines, airports and aircraft makers, as well as ground
operators and for specialized aviation companies, the insurers are interested to offer tailored cover
for everything from hull damage & third-party liability - even to cover liability including war and
terrorism.

I n the global aviation industry, including airlines, airports stand these nuances before choosing which Insurance Plan
to be opted by the insured. There have been various instances
and aircraft makers, as well as ground operators and
of a customer assuming that his/her plan has a certain cov-
for specialized aviation companies, the insurers are in-
terested to offer tailored cover for everything from hull
particular type of mishap.
damage & third-party liability - even to cover liability includ- erage, only to find out that they were never covered for that
ing war and terrorism. Most airlines arrange "fleet policies"
for availing their seamless & continuous insurance cover for To avoid getting into such a situation, insured must consult
all the aircrafts they own or operate (under a single master qualified aviation insurance experts. They may help insured
policy, issued in a single go) after considering the entire Busi- to identify and differentiate between different types of avia-
ness Contingency Plan (BCP) & applying various Risk Manage- tion insurance plans, and also clarify the clients' doubts re-
ment Strategies. lated to the terms, conditions, rules, regulations, clauses,
warranties and endorsements that are attached to various
The aviation industry is susceptible to a series of risks and aviation insurance policy.
threats, especially with respect to technical operations of an
aircraft, and the consequent dangers. Aviation insurance is a The concept of aviation insurance has gained momentum of
specialized insurance which has been formulated to provide late. A series of aircraft disasters (especially the mysterious
coverage to the specific operations of an aircraft and other disappearance of Malaysia Airlines with 239 passengers on
possible risks involved therein. This type of insurance is quite board on 8TH March, 2014) have not only prompted more
different from other types of transportation insurance. The and more entities to buy aviation insurance, but it has also
clauses, terms, limits in aviation insurance are quite unique. increased the number of claims by a huge margin at the back
drop of heavy traffic & catastrophes' risk like storms/super
Different aviation insurance policies provide a series of op- cyclones/tornados as prevalent in nature. As aircraft disas-
tions offered tailor-made to suit the varied needs of each ters continue and are on arise, it is being looked at as a very
customer. The types of coverage provided are extremely spe- risky affair to fly. This has led to a lot of fear and consequently
cific to each plan, and it is of utmost importance to under- the need for aviation insurance.

The Insurance Times June 2024 21