African airlines mark fourth safe year

African airlines have marked their fourth safe year in a row, after registering no fatal accident again in 2023, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) aviation safety review for 2023.

The IATA review, which was released this week, reported that African airlines have had no passenger jet aircraft losses or fatal accidents since 2020.

The all accident rate improved from 10.88 per million sectors in 2022 to 6.38 in 2023, better than the 5-year average of 7.11.

The continent’s safety performance reflects broader global aviation trends with IATA saying that “aviation continues to make progress on safety with several 2023 parameters showing “best-ever” results.”

The association added that “2023 safety performance continues to demonstrate that flying is the safest mode of transport.” 

However, a single fatal turboprop accident caused 72 fatalities in Nepal.

In comparison, Africa marked its fifth instance of reporting zero fatal accidents involving turboprop aircraft since 2015.

African airlines’ continued safety comes despite a 17 percent increase in aircraft movements last year, with 37 million aircraft movements recorded in 2023.

IATA introduced its Collaborative Aviation Safety Improvement Programme (CASIP) to improve aviation safety on the continent in June 2023, under its Focus Africa Initiative.

CASIP encourages states increase their implementation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) for aviation safety.

Africanews/Hauwa M.