By Sola Alabadan / Senior Correspondent
Managing Director, Alphachoice Insurance Brokers, Sunny Adeda, has advised airline operators in Nigeria to make sure that their aircrafts are insured in the country as well as ensure that they have insurance cover for liabilities that may arise from their operations.
He gave this advice at a seminar organised for journalists by the insurance industry in Abeokuta, Ogun State recently.
Adeda, who was a former President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, stated that while it is not compulsory for airlines to insure their aircrafts, it is mandatory for the airline operators to insure their liabilities in accordance with the international laws.
Considering the September 11, 2001 attacks in the USA which resulted in approximately $40 billion in insurance losses, he said it is advisable that airline operators have adequate insurance covers.
During the September 11 attacks, four passenger airliners were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists so they could be flown into buildings in suicide attacks but the affected airlines had to pay the liabilities arising therefrom.
In total, almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including the 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes.
Again, Adeda pointed out that if the spate of air crashes across the world in recent times is anything to go by, the best option is for the airline operators to always ensure that they have adequate insurance covers in place.
While mystery still surrounds the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 on March 8, which is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean with 239 people on board, a total of 298 people were killed when the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was struck by a surface-to-air missile on July 17.
Besides, on July 24, an Air Algerie flight AH5017 crashed in a remote region of Mali, close to the border with Burkina Faso, with the loss of 116 lives.
And a day before, a TransAsia Airways flight in Taiwan crashed in bad weather, killing 48 passengers.
Under the Montreal Convention, air carriers are required to carry liability insurance so as to be able to pay compensation to the families of those who may die aboard their aircraft. The airlines are strictly liable for proven damages up to $100,000 per passenger.
Source : Independent