Aviation liability and its insurance

Abstract

During the short time that he spends in the air, the average airline passenger is safer than he would be on the road. But the chance that the airline in which he flies will meet with a serious accident at some time during its useful life is quite high. Financial consequences of an aviation accident may be very heavy. The largest modern airlines represent an investment of £12,000,000 each and compensation for the death of passengers in one such aircraft might well reach 3 times that sum. Therefore because of such catastrophic loss it is commonplace for aviation risks to be excluded from any kinds of general insurance policies. Aircraft operators, airport owners, operators, manufacturers and others, however small their interest, must obtain insurance protection against aviation risks in the specialist aviation market. In this thesis an attempt will be made to discuss the main areas of liability and their respective coverage within the aviation insurance field. To achieve this, this work focuses upon areas of international law which effect this specialised field of insurance, laws and decisions of the courts of various jurisdictions, as Dell as various specimen insurance policies.