What compensation will families receive?

In general, families of air crash victims and injured passengers in domestic flights can receive two types of compensation: one is the compensation borne by the carrier (the airline); the other is the compensation borne by the insurance company, i.e. aviation accident insurance.

According to a regulation issued by China’s aviation authority in 2006, families of air crash victims can be compensated up to 400,000 yuan ($62,982) each from airlines. It also sets the maximum compensation for damage on each passenger's carry-on baggage as well as checked luggage, at 3,000 yuan per person and 100 yuan per kilogram respectively.

However, in practice, the compensation standard changes with the consumption index. So the actual amount of compensation is often higher than the maximum limit.

Whether passengers can get compensation from personal safety insurance, accident insurance or other types of insurance depends on the specific rules of the policies in terms of their coverage for aviation accidents.

Industry insiders predict insurance companies will pay a total of 100 to 300 million yuan for the MU5735 plane crash, assuming each passenger on board can be compensated 1 to 2 million yuan.