Primary aviation market remains soft, says Guy Carpenter

The primary aviation market remained soft in 2011 according to research carried out by Guy Carpenter Capital Ideas.

The 2012 January renewals saw average premium reductions of 8 percent on expiring policies, which Guy Carpenter attributed to the lack of major incidents in the 2010/2011 underwriting year.

The report predicted that if market conditions and capacity levels remain static, airlines with renewals in the first quarter of 2012 could see a level of premium reductions similar to those seen in 2011.

However, because fewer renewals occur in the first quarter, the report acknowledged that renewal trends for the period are not an indication of trends for the rest of 2012.