In 2009, aviation insurance has reported a considerable rise of its loss experience while the number of air crashes went down. The Buffalo Colgan Air crash (USA), that of Air France Rio-Paris and that of Yemenia Airways near the Comoros have claimed the lives of 428 people and cost 1 billion USD of damages.
According to the first estimates, the total amount of the 2009 losses could amount to 2.5 billion USD, whereas insurers managed to collect only 1.9 billion USD of premiums. The year 2009 has turned out to be the most costly in terms of claims, following the year 2002, which, with the 9/11/2001 attacks cost losses worth 5 billion USD.
In order to face such results, the aviation insurers have stiffened the 2010 underwriting terms. During the December 2009 renewals, significant increases have been noticed for some kinds of covers.
Some experts have evoked tariff increases comprised between 15% and 20%. This upward trend is poised to continue in 2010.
| 2008 | 2009 | Average* | |
|---|---|---|---|
Number of accidents | 32 | 30 | 32 |
Number of victims | 577 | 757 | 802 |
Insurance premiums in billions USD | 1.6 | 1.9 | - |
* Annual average of the last ten years