Japan's two leading airlines, already hit hard by flight cancellations and slumping demand for air travel in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, will face a further uphill battle as nonlife insurance companies are increasing premiums to cover crashes and other accidents, industry officials said Saturday.
International nonlife insurers have already notified major airlines across the world, including Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, of plans to significantly raise the premiums following last week's attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, the officials said.
JAL and ANA have basically accepted the proposed premium hikes, which will increase their annual payments for such expenses from the current 1 billion yen per carrier to 7 billion yen, they said.