IATA Releases 2025 Safety Report Highlighting Flight Risks

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published its 2025 flight safety report, showing overall stable industry performance while noting an increase in passenger fatalities.

According to the report, the overall accident rate was 1.32 per million flights, down from 1.42 in 2024 but slightly above the five-year average of 1.27. There were 51 accidents in total, eight of which were fatal, resulting in 394 deaths.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh emphasized that aviation remains the safest mode of transport, but every accident underscores the need for continuous improvement in safety standards and data analysis. Over the past decade, the fatal accident rate improved from one per 3.5 million flights to one per 5.6 million flights.

The most common incidents in 2025 included tail strikes during takeoff and landing, landing gear incidents, runway excursions, and ground damage. No loss-of-control in-flight (LOC-I) events were recorded, a key safety benchmark. Airport infrastructure contributed to 16% of incidents, highlighting the importance of adhering to international runway and safety zone standards.

Airlines certified under the IOSA program had an accident rate of 0.98 per million flights, compared to 2.55 for non-audited carriers. For IATA members overall, the rate was 0.72, while non-member carriers recorded 3.09.

Regional differences remain significant. Africa and the Indian Ocean led in incident rates, despite a decline from 12.13 to 7.86 per million flights. In the CIS, the rate rose to 2.74, including a turboprop crash with 48 fatalities. North America reported 16 incidents, with an increased passenger risk of 0.21 per million flights. The overall passenger fatality risk rose to 0.17 per million flights, driven by several major accidents.

Rising conflict zones have affected flight routes and operational complexity, emphasizing the need for coordination between civil and military aviation and transparent airspace management. Concern also grew over GNSS interference, with signal jamming increasing by 67% and GPS spoofing by 193% in 2025.

IATA stressed that completing investigations and publishing reports is critical for safety improvement, noting that only 63% of reports from 2019–2023 were fully and timely published. A centralized platform for sharing safety recommendations has been established to improve analytics and prevent future incidents.