The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has stated that the African region has not recorded fatal air travel accidents in 3 years as highlighted by the 2023 safety performance report.
The region’s overall accident rate fell from 10.88 per million sectors in 2022 to 6.38 in 2023, beating the five-year average of 7.11.
Surprisingly, the region reported no fatalities in 2023, demonstrating the efficacy of strengthened safety measures. It is noteworthy that no jet hull damage or deadly accidents have occurred in Africa since 2020.
The paper noted Africa’s sixth occasion of zero deadly turboprop accidents, with the first incident recorded in 2015.
Under the Focus Africa initiative, IATA launched the Continuous Aviation Safety Improvement Programme (CASIP) to improve aviation safety in Africa, focusing on collaborative efforts with states to strengthen the implementation of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
Despite obvious progress, obstacles remain. Both the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP) and the AFI Regional Aviation Safety Plan for Effective Implementation (EI) of ICAO ISARPs have increased the minimum SARP implementation criterion from 60% to 75% or higher.
Alarmingly, only 12 of Africa’s 54 states achieve this new criterion, highlighting the urgent need for significant improvements in safety standards across the continent.
On a comprehensive scale, all accident rate for 2023 stood at a commendable 0.80 per million sectors, showcasing a noteworthy improvement from the 1.30 rate recorded in 2022 and marking the lowest figure in over a decade. This milestone outperformed the five-year rolling average (2019-2023) of 1.19, signifying an elevation in safety standards within the aviation sector.
Further highlighting positive trends, the fatality risk saw a notable decline to 0.03 in 2023, a substantial improvement from the 0.11 reported in 2022 and the 0.11 five-year average spanning 2019-2023.
To put this safety achievement into perspective, the average individual would need to embark on a daily air travel regimen for over 103,000 years to encounter a fatal accident. Notably, IATA member airlines and IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registered airlines reported no fatal accidents throughout 2023.
Nevertheless, a solitary fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft occurred, resulting in 72 fatalities—a significant reduction from the five fatal accidents documented in 2022.
In terms of operational metrics, the report highlighted a substantial increase in aircraft movements in 2023. The total number of aircraft movements, encompassing both jet and turboprop categories, reached 37 million—an impressive 17% rise compared to the previous year.
“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.
