Airport operators' liability insurance
Cover for an airport operator's liability to passengers, airlines and third parties for what arises from operating its runways, aprons and services.
Airport operators' liability insurance covers bodily injury and property damage caused to third parties by operating the airport: maintaining runways and aprons, debris left on the runway, snow clearing and de-icing of surfaces, wildlife hazard control, lighting, jet bridges, parking, and often the services provided to airlines, from fueling to ground handling. It generally also carries care of aircraft in the operator's custody, known as hangarkeepers' liability, for a third party's aircraft damaged in a hangar or by ground equipment, and liability for the products and services supplied. It differs from the air carrier's liability, governed toward passengers by the 1999 Montreal Convention, which does not apply to the airport: the airport answers under the ordinary law of its country, which makes local limits and case law decisive. The airport's own property, terminals, runways, systems, and its business interruption fall under a separate property policy, often placed in another market. Like other aviation policies, it excludes war, hijacking and allied perils through clause AVN 48B, and third-party liability for those events comes back only through an endorsement of the AVN 52 family, cancellable at seven days' notice: that is the door through which political risk enters the airport. For the underwriter, the analysis covers traffic and its mix, the condition of the infrastructure, the outsourcing of ground services, reliance on a few shared IT providers and the airport's geopolitical exposure.
Dated case: overnight from 19 to 20 September 2025, ransomware encrypted Collins Aerospace's shared MUSE check-in platform; Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin Brandenburg went back to manual check-in, with delays and cancellations for several days, and ENISA confirmed the ransomware the following Monday. No aircraft was touched and no third party was injured: the operator's liability policy is not engaged. The loss sits elsewhere, in the business interruption of the airport and the airlines, which can respond only if the cyber or property policy covers the failure of a supplier, known as contingent business interruption.
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