Assurex Global: Small Airports Face Unique Liability Exposures

Municipal airports, as well as the authorities and fix-base operators that manage many of their activities, must navigate a wide range of potential liability exposures related to the safety and security of passengers, aircraft, materials and equipment on their premises. A new report from Assurex Global, a privately held global commercial insurance, risk management and employee benefits brokerage group, describes several unique risks for airports and the specialized insurance coverages that can address them.

air traffic control“While the nearly 16,000 airports across the U.S. and Canada are widely diverse in terms of their operations, scale and type of aircraft using them, they all face a number of unique exposures related to their business,” said Belinda Bryce, partner and executive vice president of the Aviation Division at The Magnes Group Inc., an Assurex Global partner firm. “Besides risks faced by most enterprises – including natural disasters, employment issues, crime, terrorism, environmental and business interruption – airports must assess exposures specific to their operations and find the best ways to address them.”

The Assurex Global report discusses a number of airport-specific liability risks that may be excluded from standard commercial liability insurance and thus need addressed by coverages available under specialized aviation general liability (AGL) insurance policies. The coverages include:

“Even though aviation general liability insurance can help airports address a number of their unique liability exposures, they comprise only one element of an airport’s overall risk management program,” said Bryce. “Airport executives should be sure to focus on all aspects of the airport’s risk and review their insurance with a knowledgeable risk professional experienced in serving the aviation sector.”

Source: Assurex Global