Passengers queue to enter airport security ahead of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport, in London, Britain, on April 14, 2022. —ReutersThe International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the United Nations agency for international air navigation, has released a five-year safety report on air accidents and incidents.In the ICAO report, air accidents and incidents from 2019 to 2023 were reviewed.
The report has revealed that 2023 was the safest year in terms of fatal accidents in the last five years. The international aviation body said only one fatal accident occurred across the world in 2023, wherein 72 people died.

On the other hand, the number of air passengers continued recovery post-coronavirus pandemic as the passengers’ traffic mounted by one billion in one year.The report notified that between the years 2019 and 2023, the trend of the number of accidents a year slumped.“The highest count recorded within this period was in 2019, with 114 accidents. The number of accidents significantly decreased in both 2020 and 2021; however, it is worth noting that during this time there was a significant decrease in traffic of passengers and flights due to measures placed by governments aimed at minimising the spread of COVID-19.“In 2022, as the pandemic restrictions were lifted, air transport began its way to recovery. In 2023, the traffic of passengers and flights continued to increase, meanwhile, the number of accidents only slightly increased and the number of fatal accidents significantly decreased.“The number of fatalities associated with the afore-mentioned fatal accidents decreased from 160 in 2022 to 72 in 2023. The year 2023 recorded the lowest fatalities in the past five years,” it said.

According to ICAO data, the global passenger traffic continued to increase in 2023 with around 4.2 billion passengers transported worldwide, up from 3.2 billion passengers in 2022.Although still slightly below pre-pandemic (2019) levels with 4.5 billion passengers having been transported worldwide, passenger traffic in 2023 increased 30% from 2022.The number of flight departures for scheduled commercial operations continued to increase by around 13% with over 35 million departures in 2023, compared to around 31 million in 2022.