The International Air Transport Association (Iata) on Thursday stated that the total number of fatalities from aviation accidents dropped from 692 in 2007, to 502 in 2008.

This was a 56% improvement on the fatality rate.

The global accident rate, measured in hull losses for every million flights, stood at 0,81, or one accident for every 1,2-million flights. This was a slight deterioration on the 2007 figures, which indicated an accident rate of 0,75.

During 2008, about 109 accidents were reported, compared with 100 in 2007.

However, there was a significant regional difference in the accident rates. Africa had an accident rate that was 2,6 times worse than the world average of 2,12. However, this extended a year-on-ear trend of significant improvements.

North Asia had a perfect record of zero hull losses in 2008, while North America recorded a rate of 0,58, Europe a rate of 0,42, and the Asia/Pacific area a rate of 0,58.

The Commonwealth of Independent States had the worst accident rate in the world at 6,43, which was 7,9 times worse than the global average.

Runway excursions accounted for 25% of all accidents in 2008, while ground damage accounted for 17%. A total of 30% of all accidents in 2008 noted deficient safety management at the airline level as a contributing factor.

Iata stated that its member airlines significantly outperformed the industry in safety. “Safety is the industry’s number one priority. Today’s statistics confirm that travelling by air is one of the safest things that a person can do,” said Iasa DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani.

With only 33 accidents recorded in 2008, Iata members drove down their accident rate to 0,52, which equalled one accident for every 1,9-million flights.

The Iata operational safety audit (IOSA) was also used as the global industry standard for airline safety management. As of January 2009, the IOSA was a condtion of Iata membership.

“Iata is a quality association, and the mark of that quality is safety. While we will be strict in upholding the IOSA standards, which are recognised by governments around the world, our goal is to raise the bar on safety with a transparent global standard, and bring all of our members on board,” said Bisignani.

The association stated that it would launch a runway safety toolkit during 2009, which was developed with the Flight Safety Foundation. The toolkit would be incorporated with Iata’s broad ranging safety tools in the Iata Global Safety Information centre, which would also be launched later this year.