ricing conditions in the airline-insurance market are notexpected to change as the industry has demonstrated increasingattention to safety, according to Willis Group Holdings.

In its monthly “Airline Insight” report, Willis' Aerospacedivision says losses for the first nine months of the year hit afive-year low of $794 million, including $250 million in July.

Willis says the market remains “remarkably stable, with nochange from the drivers of capacity and claims.”

July was the busiest month for placements with 33 renewals, butpremium dropped close to 3 percent. Overall, there have been 104renewals and a drop in premium of 1 percent as of the end ofJuly.

Willis notes that “renewals again witnessed the trend forlow-single-digit premium increases against higher levels ofexposure increase. The level of rate relief as a result of thisexposure development remains a potential issue for the market.”

July witnessed three accidents:

• An Asiana B747-400 freight jet crashed after takeoff as it leftSeoul, Korea's Incheon Airport on July 28. The crash killed twocrew members. Loss reserve was put at $127 million.
• An Egyptair B777 suffered a cockpit fire while sitting on thetarmac at Cairo Airport in Egypt on July 29. The fire burned a holein the aircraft and injured five passengers. Loss reserve was putat $60 million.
• The fuselage of a Caribbean Airlines 737-800 broke in halfafter it overran the runway at the Georgetown Airport in Guyana onJuly 30. No injuries were reported. The hull reserve was placed at$49 million.

These incidents “reflect the excellent safety performance of theindustry, which has delivered some good fortune for underwriters inthe wake of an extremely volatile year for other industries,”Willis says.