New figures are available

Aircraft accidents increased slightly in 2024

(Bild: iaremenko - stock.adobe.com)

There were slightly more aviation accidents in 2024. What is astonishing is that none of them seem to have occurred in the ex-Soviet republics.

"Although recent aviation accidents have caused a stir, it's important to remember that accidents are extremely rare," says IATA CEO Willie Walsh. "A decade ago, the five-year average (2011-2015) was one accident per 456,000 flights. Today, the five-year average (2020-2024) is one accident per 810,000 flights."

In 2024, there was an accident every 880,000 flights, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Geneva. This corresponds to a rate of 1.13 per million flights. In the previous year, the rate was 1.09. There were 46 accidents on 40.6 million flights last year, seven of which resulted in 244 fatalities, reports IATA. Previously, there had been 42 accidents, including one with 72 fatalities.

The German Aviation Association (BDL) had given different figures at the beginning of the year. According to these figures, 334 people were killed in civil aviation accidents worldwide last year. Unlike the BDL, the IATA, for example, does not include victims on the ground or those shot down over conflict zones in its statistics.

No accidents in the former Soviet Union
According to IATA, events varied greatly from region to region: the region of the successor states to the Soviet Union recorded no accidents at all in 2024. The number of accidents was particularly high in Africa (rate 10.59). Europe was in the middle of the field with an accident rate of 1.02 per million flights.