IATA Report Dubbed 2023 the Safest Year for Flying in Aviation History

This article has been reviewed and fact-checked by Wego’s editorial team.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global trade association for the aviation industry, has recently published its Annual Safety Report. The report hails 2023 as the safest year for air travel to date, as reported by Wego.

Representing 83% of global air traffic, IATA’s findings are a comprehensive representation of the worldwide aviation industry and can be extrapolated to have global applicability.

Key highlights from the report

Below are some key highlights from the report:

• accident rate: in 2023, the accident rate was 0.83 per million sectors, translating to just one accident for every 1.26 million flights. This marks the lowest recorded accident rate in the past decade.
• fatality risk: the fatality risk decreased to 0.03 in 2023 from 0.11 in 2022. This implies that an average person might need to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to encounter the probability of a fatal accident.
• reduced fatal accidents: in contrast to an average of 5 fatal accidents per year over the last five years, 2023 witnessed only one fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft, resulting in 72 fatalities.

All these safety measures are documented, taking into account the 37 million flights, representing a notable increase of 17% compared to the number of flights in 2022 on a global scale.

Country-specific accident rates

The report also provided accident rates for specific countries. MENA countries experienced a decrease in their accident rate, from 2.16 accidents per million sectors in 2022 to 1.16 in 2023.

Additionally, Northern Asian countries saw a drop in both the accident rate and fatality risk percentages, declining from 0.45 and 0.23 respectively, in 2022 to 0 in 2023. This signifies that there were no reported accidents in North Asia during the specified period.

Encouragement for global travelers

The report serves as an encouragement for global travelers to consider air transport as their preferred mode of transportation, emphasizing its high safety standards and minimal risks. It instills confidence in those who may be uncertain about the potential risks and challenges associated with air travel by presenting compelling statistics and factual evidence showcasing the success of airline safety.