So far, this year has seen average fleet value exposures grow by eight per cent against a 16 per cent rise in passenger numbers, said Willis’ Airline Insight newsletter, while premium levels are down by one per cent year-on-year. The report predicts that premium levels are likely to continue to slide, as increased exposure levels are offset by benign claims and a continued abundance in capacity. The airline loss position through the first 10 months of the year is exemplary, with passenger fatalities the lowest they have been at this point of the year for the last decade.
Commenting on the report, Steve Doyle, Business Development and Sales Director for Willis Aerospace, said: "The increased desire for return on capital is prompting the greater deployment of this capacity, resulting in heightened market competition. The niche and catastrophe nature of aviation insurance means that it continues to offer diversification to insurers’ overall portfolios and therefore market withdrawals are unlikely to come in response to declining results in the airline sector of the market."