IATA 2025 Safety Report: “Flying is the Safest Form of Long-Distance Travel”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its 2025 Annual Safety Report. The airline organization called it “a solid year of safety performance.”

Some key figures:

• The all-accident rate of 1.32 per million flights (one accident per 759,646 flights) was better than the 1.42 recorded in 2024 but slightly above the 2021-2025 five-year average of 1.27. 
• There were 51 accidents in 2025 among 38.7 million flights. That is fewer than the 54 accidents among 37.9 million flights in 2024, but above the 2021-2025 five-year average of 44 accidents.
• There were eight fatal accidents in 2025. That is more than the seven fatal accidents recorded in 2024 and the five-year average of six fatal accidents. 
• There were 394 onboard fatalities in 2025, more than the 244 fatalities reported in 2024 and the five-year average of 198. 

“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,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. 

“The result of that effort is clear in how the five-year rolling average rate for fatal accidents has improved. A decade ago, the rate stood at one fatal accident for every 3.5 million flights (2012-2016). Today, it is one fatal accident for every 5.6 million flights (2021-2025). 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.” 

Key insights from the report include:

The most common accidents in 2025 were tail strikes, landing gear events, runway excursions, and ground damage. IATA says this underscores the importance of take-off, landing, and ground handling safety measures. 

Notably there were no loss of control inflight (LOC-I) accidents in 2025. It is the second time this has been achieved (previously in 2020) and is significant as LOC-I are a leading cause of fatalities. 

Airport facilities contributed to 16% of accidents in 2025. This reinforces the need to fully respect global standards for runway safety areas, frangible installations within safety zones, and the effective mitigation of hazards such as runway surface contaminants, inadequate markings or lighting, and obstacles within protected areas or near runways.

“Airport infrastructure and runway environments play a critical role in accident outcomes. In several events, rigid obstacles near runways increased accident severity, likely turning otherwise survivable occurrences into fatal ones. All airports and regulators should continuously review runway safety areas and the structures near runways for compliance with global safety standards,” said Walsh.  

IOSA airlines: Airlines on the registry of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) had an all-accident rate of 0.98, significantly lower than the 2.55 recorded by non-IOSA carriers. The all-accident rate of IATA member airlines was 0.72 per million flights, significantly lower than the 3.09 for non-IATA members. All IATA member airlines capable of being IOSA-audited are on the IOSA registry.

Fatality risk, which measures the potential for loss of life increased to 0.17 per million flights, higher than 2024 (0.06) and the five-year average (0.12). The increase in fatality risk was driven by a small number of fatal accidents.  For example, Air India 171 (with 241 fatalities) and PSA Airlines flight 5342 (with 64 fatalities) accounted for over 77% of all loss of life on board aircraft in 2025.