| Coverage | Trend | Range |
|---|---|---|
| General aviation |  | Flat to –5% |
| Airline hull and liability |  | +10% to +25% |
| Airline hull war | | Flat to –10% |
| Airline excess war liability | | Flat to –10% |
| Aircraft manufacturers and service providers |  | –5% to +5% |
| Airport operators and authorities | | Flat to –5% |
| Space | | Flat to –10% |
| Aircraft leasing and finance | | Flat to –5% |
Key takeaways
- Early planning, with a well-thought-out strategy, is critical.
- Underwriters differentiate the major sub-sectors (aerospace, airlines and general aviation) of the aviation market.
- Analytic tools can help pinpoint the ideal limits, coverage and retentions to help maximize the value of your aviation insurance program.
General aviation
The general aviation insurance market continues to benefit from strong competition and abundant capacity, creating favorable conditions for many insureds and driving premium reductions across attractive risks. However, growing market fragmentation, the expansion of facilities and differing insurer strategies are creating more inconsistency in underwriting behavior as carriers balance short-term growth ambitions against the need for sustainable profitability.
The general aviation insurance market is no longer simply experiencing a traditional soft cycle. Instead, it's undergoing structural change driven by facility growth, evolving long-term agreements (LTAs), emerging technologies such as drones and AAM, claims, inflation and workforce challenges.
Airline
Insurers will be looking for a continued firming of the market as we enter the 2026 airline renewal season. Expectations are for insurers to seek at minimum +10% rate increases for clean risks and more substantial increases for airlines with deteriorating loss records. Capacity remains adequate to complete placements; however, some insurers are reducing line size, which will affect rates and premiums. Rising costs of attritional claims in North America remain a significant factor when insurers are near the break-even premium level. For hull war and third-party war liability coverages, capacity remains abundant, which has led to pricing pressure across both sectors.
Aircraft manufacturers and service providers
Capacity in the aerospace insurance market remains strong, providing insureds with meaningful choice and competitive options. Simultaneously, rising aircraft and component values, increasing claims severity and exposure growth are placing greater emphasis on effective risk management.
For aircraft and component manufacturers, strong production activity and supply-chain pressures create a greater focus on product quality, supplier oversight and continuity of operations. Maintenance, repair and overhaul shops are seeing strong demand as a result of high utilization, aging fleets and aircraft delivery delays.
Airport operators and authorities
Managing contractual liability and insurance requirements across airlines, concessionaires and other third-party operators remains an important consideration for underwriters. Growth in passenger and aircraft activity can increase exposure to premises liability, foreign object and debris (FOD) and ground operations incidents. Ongoing investments in terminal, runway and airfield infrastructure can introduce additional construction and operational exposures.
Space
The space market has stabilized after two years of correction. Increased capacity and competitive pricing are strong for flight-proven hardware, while first-flight or low-flight equipment continues to face placement difficulties. Insurers are taking a more disciplined approach with a focus on redundancy, technical heritage and risk margins.
Aircraft finance and leasing
Market conditions have stabilized, and competition is returning to the sector. The U.K. Court’s Butcher verdict of June 2025 entitled claimants to recover losses under the war risks policy rather than the all-risks policy, paving the way for cases in Ireland and the U.S. to close, and allowed insurers to revise reserves downward.
Disclaimer
WTW hopes you found the general information provided here informative and helpful. The information contained herein is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied upon in lieu of consultation with your own legal advisors. In the event you would like more information regarding your insurance coverage, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. In North America, WTW offers insurance products through licensed entities, including Willis Towers Watson Northeast, Inc. (in the United States) and Willis Canada Inc. (in Canada).
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