The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its 2025 Annual Safety Report, revealing a year of strong safety performance, with a decrease in the overall accident rate, even as the industry navigates increasing complexities amid geopolitical conflicts and technical interference.
The global aviation industry saw a marked improvement in the all-accident rate, dropping to 1.32 per million flights (one accident for every 759,646 flights), down from 1.42 in 2024. Despite this positive trend, the rate remains slightly above the five-year average (2021-2025) of 1.27.
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Total Accidents: 51 accidents occurred among 38.7 million flights, an improvement from 54 accidents in 2024.
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Fatalities: There were 8 fatal accidents resulting in 394 onboard fatalities. This increase from 2024 (244 fatalities) was driven largely by two major events—Air India 171 and PSA Airlines 5342—which accounted for over 77% of the year’s total loss of life.
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Safety Leadership: Airlines on the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry outperformed non-IOSA carriers significantly, with an accident rate of 0.98 compared to 2.55 for non-registry airlines.
“Flying remains the safest form of long-distance travel,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. “A decade ago, the industry saw one fatal accident for every 3.5 million flights. Today, that has improved to one for every 5.6 million. While every accident is one too many, the data confirms that our collective focus on global standards and collaboration is saving lives.”
The report identified tail strikes, landing gear events, and runway excursions as the most common accident types. For the second time in history (following 2020), the industry achieved zero Loss of Control Inflight (LOC-I) accidents, a significant milestone given that LOC-I is historically a leading cause of fatalities.
However, Walsh raised concerns regarding airport infrastructure, which contributed to 16% of accidents. “Rigid obstacles near runways turned otherwise survivable occurrences into fatal ones. We urge regulators and airports to strictly adhere to global standards for runway safety areas.”
IATA highlighted two growing risks to global flight operations:
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Conflict Zones: Military activity, particularly the escalation of conflict between the US/Israel and Iran, has forced significant rerouting. IATA emphasizes that civil-military coordination is essential and that airspace closures must be based on facts, not politics.
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GNSS Interference: Reported GPS jamming events surged by 67% compared to 2023, while spoofing incidents skyrocketed by 193%. IATA is calling for immediate government intervention to halt these deliberate acts of interference.
| Region | 2025 All-Accident Rate | Trend vs 2024 | Key Notes |
| North Asia | 0.16 | Stable | Lowest accident rate globally. |
| Middle East/N. Africa | 0.53 | Improved | Zero fatalities since 2019. |
| Asia-Pacific | 0.91 | Improved | Better than 5-year average. |
| Europe | 1.30 | Improved | Zero fatality risk in 2025. |
| North America | 1.68 | Increased | Driven by ground damage and tail strikes. |
| Africa | 7.86 | Improved | Highest regional rate; 71% involved turboprops. |
IATA expressed concern over the lack of timely accident investigation reports. Only 63% of accidents between 2019 and 2023 have resulted in final reports that meet Chicago Convention obligations. To bridge this gap, IATA has launched a centralized platform to consolidate safety recommendations into a single global repository.
“Anything less than 100% compliance with investigation obligations shortchanges the industry on opportunities to improve,” said Walsh.
