51 accidents recorded out of 38.7m flights in 2025 – IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) yesterday released its 2025 Annual Safety Report, highlighting a generally strong safety performance for the global aviation industry, even as fatalities increased compared with the previous year. According to the report, the global all-accident rate stood at 1.32 accidents per million flights in 2025, equivalent to one accident for […]

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) yesterday released its 2025 Annual Safety Report, highlighting a generally strong safety performance for the global aviation industry, even as fatalities increased compared with the previous year.

According to the report, the global all-accident rate stood at 1.32 accidents per million flights in 2025, equivalent to one accident for every 759,646 flights.

This represents an improvement from the 1.42 accidents per million flights recorded in 2024, although it was slightly above the five-year average of 1.27 for the period between 2021 and 2025.

In total, 51 accidents were recorded in 2025 out of 38.7 million flights worldwide. This was lower than the 54 accidents reported in 2024 from 37.9 million flights, but higher than the five-year average of 44 accidents.

The report noted a slight increase in fatal accidents and fatalities during the year.

There were eight fatal accidents in 2025, compared with seven in 2024 and a five-year average of six.

Similarly, the number of onboard fatalities rose to 394 in 2025, up from 244 in 2024 and above the five-year average of 198.

Commenting on the findings, IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh, emphasised that aviation remains the safest form of long-distance transportation despite the isolated incidents.

“Flying is the safest form of long-distance travel. Accidents are extremely rare and each one reminds us to be even more focused on continuous improvement through global standards and collaboration guided by safety data,” Walsh said.

He noted that the industry’s long-term safety record continues to improve.

 

“A decade ago, the five-year rolling average rate for fatal accidents stood at one fatal accident for every 3.5 million flights between 2012 and 2016. Today, it is one fatal accident for every 5.6 million flights for the period between 2021 and 2025,” he said.

 

“Flying is so safe that even one accident among the nearly 40 million flights operated annually moves the global data. Every accident is, of course, one too many. The goal for aviation remains zero accidents and zero fatalities,” he added.

 

The report identified tail strikes, landing gear incidents, runway excursions, and ground damage as the most frequent accident categories recorded in 2025.

 

These occurrences highlight the importance of maintaining high safety standards during take-off, landing, and ground handling operations.

 

 

 

A notable safety milestone was that no loss-of-control in-flight (LOC-I) accidents occurred in 2025. LOC-I accidents are historically among the most fatal aviation incidents.

 

 

 

The absence of such accidents marked only the second time this has happened, with the first occurrence recorded in 2020.