New York - Insurers face up to $350 million in claims from the Air France Concorde crash, with European companies footing most of the bill.
Compensation for families of victims of the crash would account for most of the cost, with the aircraft itself insured for about $30 million, British and US insurance sources said.
The total insurance bill is likely to be less than half that for the SwissAir crash off the coast of Canada in September 1998, which is thought to have cost insurers $750 million. That crash killed all 229 passengers on board.
"Based on recent precedents, compensation payments to passengers' families are running at about $2.4 million per passenger, which suggests the total cost to insurers could be between $250 million to $350 million," said Mr Robert Hartwig, chief economist of the New York-based Insurance Information Institute.