IATA reports that European skies are at their safest ever, calming nervous passengers. The IATA’s 2023 annual safety report found that Europe’s ‘all accident’ rate dropped from 0.98 per million sectors in 2022 to 0.48 in 2023, a record low.
This is better than the continent’s 5-year average of 0.77 accidents per million. Fortunately, Europe has had zero fatalities since 2018. The majority of accidents involve landing gear collapses, generally caused by plane mechanics.
Global aviation safety is improving, but Europe is one of the safest regions. In 2023, North America and Asia Pacific had somewhat higher ‘all accident’ rates.
Despite these differences, no areas reported jet hull losses this year, demonstrating air travel safety. The sole Asia-Pacific turboprop hull loss was a loss-of-control accident in Nepal that killed 72.
Although no fatal accidents occurred in North America, the ‘all accident’ rate jumped from 0.53 per million sectors in 2022 to 1.14 in 2023. Still, this is better than the 5-year regional average of 1.21 per million.
The global ‘all accident’ rate was 0.80 per million in 2023, the lowest in nearly a decade, with 37 million aircraft movements, up 17% from the previous year.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh celebrates the outstanding results and underscores the continuous commitment to air transport safety. Flying is one of the safest hobbies, but it can always be improved. Walsh emphasizes the need of learning from prior disasters to build aviation safety.
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