Hardy Underwriting is to reduce its provision of airline insurance as falling premiums in the sector make risks not worth underwriting.
The Lloyd's insurer plans to reduce airline cover during the renewal season in the fourth quarter of 2003.
Chief executive Barbara Merry said: "By the end of 2002, a lot of extra capacity came into the aviation market, so that, within 12 months of 11 September, airline rates had already started to fall off."
Merry explained that many of the airline renewal rates would be unsatisfactory for their pricing requirements.
This follows Brit's decision to stop underwriting direct aviation risks, as reported by Insurance Times earlier this month.
Hardy, which has been at Lloyd's for 27 years, has never recorded an underwriting loss. The insurer plans to begin underwriting commercial property insurance next year with its syndicate's capacity increasing to £115m.
