Reviewed by Hugo Gonçalves, Founder & Risk Management Specialist at Adler & Rochefort · Degree in Business Management (University of Hertfordshire) · Ongoing training at the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), London.
Private aviation is insured in a market of its own, with its own wordings, its own regulation and a small number of specialist underwriters. The questions that decide a claim — who is the operator, who is flying, where the aircraft is based — are often settled carelessly when the aircraft is bought.
We arrange aviation insurance for owners of private aircraft, helicopters and drones based in Portugal and Spain. It is placed exclusively through specialist aviation markets, via a co-brokerage partner that works in that market every day — and we say so from the outset.
Owners and operators of aircraft used privately, and estates that use drones.
The losses are physical damage to the aircraft — in flight, taxiing or on the ground — liability to passengers and to people and property on the ground, injury to crew, and damage to aircraft in someone else’s hangar. EU Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 sets minimum insurance requirements for aircraft operators, including third-party liability by maximum take-off mass and passenger liability; many owners carry limits well above those minimums.
| Portugal | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Aviation authority | ANAC (Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil) | AESA (Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea) |
| Minimum aircraft insurance | EU Regulation 785/2004 applies directly | EU Regulation 785/2004 applies directly |
| Drones | EU drone rules apply; operators register with ANAC, and national law requires liability insurance for many drone operations | EU drone rules apply; operators register with AESA, and national rules require liability insurance for many drone operations |
| Typical bases | Cascais (Tires), Portimão, Madeira | Madrid, Málaga, Ibiza, Palma, Barcelona |
Aviation policies are built around the aircraft, its use and the people who fly it.
Physical loss or damage to the aircraft at an agreed value — in flight, taxiing and on the ground.
Confiscation, hijack, terrorism and malicious acts, normally as a separate section.
A combined single limit for passengers and third parties, at least at the level required by EU regulation, and usually well above it.
Death and disability benefits for pilots and crew.
Damage to other people’s aircraft in your care, for owners with hangars.
Correct naming of owner, operator, management company and lessor, so each is protected and nothing is voided by who is flying.
Cover that matches the ownership structure and the obligations in the lease or fractional agreement.
Liability and hull cover for drones used on estates, with the operator registration and operating category checked.
Aviation underwriters work from precise technical information.
Before any proposal you receive a written note: what the exposure actually is, where your current policies stop, and what a well-placed policy should contain. It is yours to keep whether or not you proceed.
Aviation risks are placed exclusively through specialist aviation markets, via a co-brokerage partner that works in them every day. We remain your adviser and single point of contact, and the placement structure is set out in writing.
The same person handles the file from the first conversation through placement, every renewal and any claim. You never re-explain your circumstances to somebody new.
If something happens, we notify the insurer, assemble the documentation, and stay with the claim until it is settled, in writing, with a record of every step.
Adler & Rochefort is an ASF-registered insurance intermediary, not tied to any insurer, with its head office in Lisbon and clients across Portugal and Spain. No client names are published, and information about what you own or how you live goes only to the markets approached on your instructions.
Tell us briefly what you would like to protect, and where. We reply in writing, in English, within 24 hours, with a first assessment and the information an underwriter will need. No call is required at any stage.
By sending this form you agree to us using your details to prepare and discuss the cover, in line with our privacy policy. We never sell your data, and we do not publish client names or details of what we insure.
We will reply in writing within 24 hours.