2023 safest year for flying by several parameters, says IATA

04.03.2024 - 07:59 / traveldailynews.com / Asia Pacific / Willie Walsh / Theodore Koumelis / Airlines

For the first time, there were no hull losses or fatal accidents involving passenger jet aircraft in 2023.

GENEVA – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its 2023 Annual Safety Report for global aviation. Aviation continues to make progress on safety with several 2023 parameters showing “best-ever” results.

There were no hull losses or fatal accidents involving passenger jet aircraft in 2023. However, there was a single fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft, resulting in 72 fatalities. There were 37 million aircraft movements in 2023 (jet and turboprop), an increase of 17% on the previous year.

Report highlights include:

“2023 safety performance continues to demonstrate that flying is the safest mode of transport. Aviation places its highest priority on safety and that shows in the 2023 performance. Jet operations saw no hull losses or fatalities. 2023 also saw the lowest fatality risk and ‘all accident’ rate on record. A single fatal turboprop accident with 72 fatalities, however, reminds us that we can never take safety for granted. And two high profile accidents in the first month of 2024 show that, even if flying is among the safest activities a person can do, there is always room to improve. This is what we have done throughout our history. And we will continue to make flying ever safer,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

1 (0 jet and1 turboprop)

The 2023 all accident rate improved compared to 2022 for all regions with the exceptions of North America and Asia Pacific. No regions experienced a jet hull loss in 2023. Asia-Pacific recorded a fatal turboprop hull loss, a loss-of-control accident in Nepal in January 2023 with 72 fatalities.  As a consequence, all regions except Asia-Pacific recorded a fatality risk of zero in 2023.

Jet hull loss rates by region of operator (per 1 million departures)

Turboprop hull loss rates by region of operator (per 1 million departures)

IOSA is the global industry standard for airline operational safety. It is also used by numerous authorities in their regulatory safety programs.

“IOSA registered carriers recorded no hull losses or fatal accidents in 2023. Since 2005, the all-accident rate for airlines on the IOSA registry is almost three times better than for non-IOSA airlines. This sustained performance demonstrates that the implementation of global standards improves safety. With IOSA’s recent transition to a risk-based model focusing on pertinent safety risks while maintaining a baseline of safety, IOSA will become an even more powerful tool to help airlines and regulators to maintain and improve very high levels of safety performance,” said Walsh.

A strong safety culture within the aviation industry is essential for