{"id":18638,"slug":"2023-safest-year-ever-air-travel-iata-report","status":"published","date":"2024-04-08T12:24:34Z","modified":"2026-06-16 13:12:17","link":"https://www.visamundi.co/en/blog/2023-safest-year-ever-air-travel-iata-report/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Named Safest Year Ever for Air Travel"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IATA&#39;s 2023 safety report reveals record-low accident rates and fewer fatalities, despite a 17% rise in global air traffic.</p>","protected":false},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the world of tourism and travel, statistics remain essential for making well-informed decisions. The year 2023 was no exception—particularly in the realm of aviation safety.</p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https://www.iata.org/contentassets/0a093778e577490abbccb7234235b776/2024-02-28-01-fr.pdf\">According to the latest safety report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA)</a>, 2023 was the safest year in the history of commercial aviation.</p>\n<h2>Fewer accidents despite growing passenger numbers</h2>\n<p>The past year saw a <strong>sharp decline in the number of accidents</strong> involving commercial jets, dropping from 0.11 accidents per million flights in 2022 to just 0.03 in 2023. This remarkable improvement occurred despite a <strong>substantial rise in air traffic</strong>, with 37 million flights in 2023—a 17% increase over the previous year.</p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Between 2019 and 2023, there were an average of <strong>38 accidents per year</strong>, including five fatal accidents resulting in 143 fatalities.</p></li>\n<li>\n<p>Overall accident rates fell to <strong>0.8 per million flights</strong>, down from 1.3 in 2022 and below the five-year average of 1.19.</p></li></ul>\n<p>Air travel has never been safer than in 2023, with the lowest recorded accident rate per million flight hours: the risk of being involved in a fatal accident is now about <strong>1 in 500,000 flights</strong>.</p>\n<h2>Operational safety and technological innovation</h2>\n<p>Members of IATA and airlines certified under the IOSA safety audit <strong>reported zero fatal accidents</strong> between 2019 and 2023. A single fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft occurred during this period, resulting in 72 fatalities.</p>\n<p>These figures demonstrate the high level of <strong>safety offered by IATA member airlines</strong> and highlight the technological advancements made in recent years—such as collision-avoidance systems, real-time performance monitoring, and predictive maintenance—which continue to enhance flight safety.</p>\n<h3>Why do accidents still happen?</h3>\n<p>Even with these gains, it’s critical not to become complacent about aviation safety. While flying remains one of the world’s safest forms of transport, there is always room for improvement.</p>\n<p>High-profile incidents in the U.S. during the first weeks of 2024 underline that further progress is still needed to make air travel even safer.</p>\n<h2>Air transport: the safest way to travel</h2>\n<p>The data speaks for itself: air travel has the <strong>lowest fatality rate</strong> compared with other forms of transport like cars, trains, or walking. With a fatal accident risk of just 0.03 per million flights in 2023, flying remains the safest way to travel. <em>Yet another great reason to explore the world?</em></p>","protected":false},"tags":[]}