February 28: Last year was the safest ever for commercial air travel, despite a massive rebound in passenger flights, AFP reported citing an airline industry group on Wednesday.

According to the news based on IATA’s annual report, the only fatal accident of a passenger plane was the crash of an ATR turboprop operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines during a domestic flight, killing 72 people.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it counted another 29 accidents in 2023 that did not involve fatalities or loss of the plane.

"Safety performance of 2023 continues to demonstrate that flying is the safest mode of transport,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general said in a statement, adding, “Aviation places its highest priority on safety and that shows in the 2023 performance.”

According to Walsh, jet operations saw no hull losses or fatalities in the review year. The year 2023 also saw the lowest fatality risk and ‘all accident’ rate on record, he added.

In 2022, there was a total of 42 accidents, of which five were fatal and took 158 lives.

According to the website of IATA, the fatality risk improved to 0.03 in 2023 from 0.11 in 2022 and 0.11 for the five years, 2019-2023.

At this level of safety, on average a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident, added IATA.

There were 37 million aircraft movements in 2023 (jet and turboprop), an increase of 17% on the previous year, the IATA wrote on its website.

The IATA counts a non-fatal accident as an event that causes damage of at least $1 million or equal to 10 percent of the plane's value. IATA statistics do not cover business, military, private, maintenance or training flights, AFP reported.

"On average a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident," IATA said.

The IATA represents some 320 airlines comprising 83 percent of global air traffic.

"Even if flying is among the safest activities a person can do, there is always room to improve," said IATA Director General Walsh, citing "two high profile accidents in the first month of 2024."

In January, a Japan Airlines A350 Airbus was safely evacuated after bursting into flames at a Tokyo airport, according to AFP.

In the United States, a panel blew off the fuselage of a Boeing 737 MAX during an Alaska Airlines flight, again without any serious injuries. – Agencies

(Updated news with inputs from IATA)