The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its 2023 Annual Safety Report, revealing that last year was the safest on record for global aviation.
According to the report, there were no hull losses or fatal accidents involving passenger jet aircraft in 2023. However, a single fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft resulted in 72 fatalities.
The all accident rate improved to 0.80 per million sectors in 2023, marking an improvement from 1.30 in 2022 and the lowest rate in over a decade. This rate outperformed the five-year (2019-2023) rolling average of 1.19.
The fatality risk also improved to 0.03 in 2023 from 0.11 in 2022 and 0.11 for the five years, 2019-2023. At this level of safety, on average, a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident.
IATA member airlines and IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registered airlines experienced no fatal accident in 2023.
Despite these positive strides, IATA Director General Willie Walsh emphasized that “we can never take safety for granted.”
A single fatal turboprop accident in Nepal and two high-profile accidents in early 2024 serve as reminders of the importance of continuous safety improvement efforts.
Walsh stressed the critical role of transparent safety reporting in driving improvements.
He urged states to comply with the Chicago Convention and release public, timely, and comprehensive accident reports, a current area of significant shortfall.
Data-driven initiatives like IATA’s Global Aviation Data Management program are also helping the industry proactively identify potential safety concerns.
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