Meanwhile, 12 British airlines are contemplating forming their own buyers’ pool for terrorism insurance. The governments of Britain, the US, Japan and many European countries have already indicated their underwriting of the terrorism risk for national airlines will cease in March. While insurers insist the risk is too high, the airlines are understood to be banding together to ensure that whatever is available comes to them at the lowest possible price.

And while the insurers are reluctant to deal with it, Britain’s Insurance Times said Aon, Marsh and Willis are willing to work together to make the airline pool work.

The likely cost of the deal: about $14 billion, which would make it the highest premium in history, and far higher than the estimated $2.7 billion they were paying before September 11.