IATA 2025 Safety Report: 51 Accidents Among 38.7 Million Flights

‍GENEVA — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its 2025 Annual Safety Report demonstrating a solid year of safety performance with the following highlights:

• 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.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, said, “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. 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)."

Walsh added, "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.”