NU Online News Service, June 10, 4:05 p.m. EDT

Airline insurance pricing is moderating this year, withsingle-digit increases replacing last year's double-digit hikes,according to insurance broker Aon Corp.

In its monthly report http://aviationinsight.typepad.com/aviation_insight/on the airline insurance industry, Aon said that lead hull andliability premium rose by 5 percent in May and 8 percent for theyear.

However, with only a fraction of the total airline marketplaced, there is "significant scope for the pattern to change asthe year progresses."

Passenger numbers have increased in all regions during the year,Aon said, but the volcano eruption in Iceland has put a damper onthose increases, with flight interruptions producing nearly a 3percent decrease in passenger traffic for April.

So far this year, losses are trending behind last year. Therehave been $457 million in losses so far this year, compared to $706million for the same period last year, Aon said.

However, the loss numbers do not include the Air India Expressjet that crashed in Dubai in late May, killing 158 people. Theaircraft was valued at $50 million.

To date, the loss total for 2010 is close to the long-term1996-2009 average and is also more than half the level of claimsfor last year.