German Insurer to Share in Payout for AirAsia Crash

German insurance provider Allianz will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in payouts for three major airline crashes this year, including AirAsia Flight 8501, the New York Times reported.

AirAsia Flight 8501 was traveling from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday when it disappeared. The remains of the plane were discovered Tuesday in the Java Sea. There were 162 people on board.

Allianz is the lead reinsurer for AirAsia, as well as Malaysia Airlines, which experienced two disasters earlier this year – Flight 370, which disappeared in March, and Flight 17, which was shot down over Ukraine.

Experts estimate that insurance companies will have to pay about $1.8 billion for airline claims this year. However, no single company is expected to have to pay so much that its financial strength will be threatened. Risks are typically spread out among a primary insurer and a second tier of companies known as reinsurers. The lead reinsurer takes on the largest risk of this group, which can include 20 or more members.

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