Click to play videoHyderabad: Next year, you can expect a better deal from the airlines when you are stranded at an airport because of air traffic disruptions due to fog.
After numerous fog-induced flight disruptions this year, airlines and insurance companies have gone into a huddle to work out an insurance package that could ensure fare refunds, hotel stay and refreshments to the passengers at the airport in case of flight cancellations.
While it may not make your wait at the airport any shorter, that is still good news. Insurers are chalking out the details of a fog cover for airlines, which are reeling under heavy losses this winter due to the fog havoc. The product is still in discussion. The proposed insurance scheme may cover fare refunds, hotel stay and refreshments at the airport in case of flight cancellations.
Insurance companies like ICICI Lombard and TATA AIG say they would prefer to offer airlines a cover that compensates them only if the fog lasts longer than the average 20 days and causes them more losses than they had budgeted for.
On their part, the airlines have been asking for a total cover. Insurance companies say they are in active discussion with airlines on this issue.
The insurance regulator IRDA, on the other hand, is supportive of such a product entering the market. But it says the product may not make it to the market this year as actuarial teams of insurance companies are already working over time to meet the January 1 detarrifing deadline.
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