Air travel in 2018 was marginally less safe than in 2017, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual Airline Safety Performance Report, though major accidents remained rare — occurring roughly once every 5.4 million flights.
The accident rate rose modestly to 1.35 accidents per one million flights in 2018, up from 1.11 per one million in 2017. While 2017 represented a record low, the 2018 figure is still below the average of 1.79 accidents per one million flights recorded between 2013 and 2017.
Globally, 2018 saw 11 fatal jet accidents that resulted in a total of 523 fatalities.
“Last year some 4.3 billion passengers flew safely on 46.1 million flights; 2018 was not the extraordinary year that 2017 was,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.
De Juniac noted that, despite the slight deterioration, the trend over time is toward improved safety. He pointed out that if safety had remained at 2013 levels, there would have been 109 accidents instead of 62, and 18 fatal accidents rather than the 11 that actually occurred in 2018.
The statistics suggest that a passenger flying once a day would, on average, need about 241 years before encountering an accident involving at least one fatality on board.
“Flying continues to be the safest form of long-distance travel the world has ever known,” he added.