Airlines urged to form new insurance fund

European airlines need an international insurance fund if they are to avoid a crisis like the one that hit US carriers after Sept 11, according to a senior member of the Association of European Airlines.

"Only an international fund is capable of solving such a problem," said Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, secretary general the Association of European Airlines (AEA).

The current insurance cover against terror attacks cannot handle another crisis on the scale of the attacks last year, he said.