AirAsia Crashed Insurance To Be Paid

JAKARTA: -- Insurance firms covering AirAsia flight QZ8501 are still obligated to pay out insurance claims for flight passengers in spite of permit lapses, Indonesia’s financial regulator has said, The Jakarta Globe reported.

“Based on what I’ve read, there is nothing in the insurance policies that said the change of schedule or the lack of permit of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 excludes insurers from paying for the claims,” said Firdaus Djaelani, a commissioner at the Financial Services Authority (OJK) overseeing non-banking financial institutions, during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Firdaus was addressing speculation surrounding Flight QZ8501, which crashed in to the Java Sea en route to Singapore from Surabaya on Dec 28, in particular AirAsia’s lack of a permit to fly that route on a Sunday, which might void insurance claims.

During the investigation of the crash, authorities had discovered that Indonesia AirAsia, the local affiliate of Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia, only had a license to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The flight took off on a Sunday.

According to a Reuters report, Singapore’s civil aviation authorities said the AirAsia flight was authorized to fly on that day and AirAsia officials have said they are fully cooperating with any investigation from the authorities.

“The cause [of the accident] is still under investigation […] Still, the probable cause of the crash isn’t the permit, but because of the bad weather or damaged engine. This means that it’s still claimable,” Firdaus said.