The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its 2025 Annual Safety Report, highlighting a year of improved safety performance in the aviation industry. The all-accident rate decreased to 1.32 per million flights, better than the 1.42 recorded in 2024, though slightly above the five-year average of 1.27. However, the report also noted an increase in onboard fatalities, with 394 deaths in 2025 compared to 244 in 2024.

The report revealed that there were 51 accidents among 38.7 million flights in 2025, fewer than the 54 accidents among 37.9 million flights in 2024. Despite this, the number of fatal accidents rose to eight, up from seven in 2024. "Flying is the safest form of long-distance travel," said Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General, emphasising the industry's commitment to achieving zero accidents and fatalities.

Key insights from the report include the prevalence of tail strikes, landing gear events, runway excursions, and ground damage as the most common accidents in 2025. Notably, there were no loss of control inflight accidents, a significant achievement given their historical impact on fatalities. Airport facilities contributed to 16% of accidents, underscoring the need for adherence to global safety standards.

The report also highlighted the performance of airlines on the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry, which had a significantly lower all-accident rate of 0.98 compared to 2.55 for non-IOSA carriers. The fatality risk increased to 0.17 per million flights, driven by a few high-fatality incidents, including Air India 171 and PSA Airlines flight 5342, which accounted for over 77% of the fatalities.

Regionally, Africa saw an improvement in its all-accident rate, whilst North America experienced an increase. The report calls for continuous review of runway safety areas and compliance with global standards to mitigate accident severity

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