Flying is safe and secure, insists IATA chief
Air travel last year was 30% safer than the five-year average, according to the latest figures.
In 2015 there was one major accident for every 3.1 million flights, said IATA chief Tony Tyler in his address at the association’s 72nd AGM and World Air Transport Summit in Dublin this week.
Tyler insisted air accidents are extremely rare and flying remains the safest way to travel.
But he added: "The EgyptAir tragedy reminds us that safety is a constant challenge."
He said the industry was continually working to improve safety and its IATA’s Operational Safety Audit, used by over 400 airlines worldwide, now includes continuous compliance monitoring.
Since the loss of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 the industry has established a global tracking standard, he added.
It has also helped secure a change in the law which means whistle-blowers can report safety concerns without fear of reprisal.
Tyler said air travel security has been tested in the last 12 months, with atrocities including the death of 224 people when a Russian Metrojet flight from Sharm el Sheikh crashed in the Sinai desert, the suicide bomb on Somali-owned Daallo Airlines, and the terror attacks at Brussels Airport.
"All are grim reminders that terrorists do not care who they victimize in trying to achieve their ends—including innocent travellers," he said.
"Terrorist objectives are clearly bigger than aviation. Governments face the formidable challenge of protecting the values of free and open societies from people with an agenda of darkness."
He said IATA does not advocate the pre-screening procedures imposed in Brussels following the landside terror attacks.
Instead, it is working with the Airports Council International (ACI) on ‘Smart Security’ using a ‘risk-based approach and modern technology’.
"But airport security programmes are not the keystone in the battle against terrorism," said Tyler.
"Government intelligence capabilities play the biggest role in keeping our societies secure and stopping terrorists far away from airports."
He urged governments to stick to the global standards for data collection and transmission.
"It is paramount that governments implement these standards consistently, or efforts to neutralize terrorism will be weakened by complexity.
"At the same time governments should make full use of the data we give them in known traveller programmes.
He also called on governments to share the intelligence information more effectively.
"Make no mistake. We face real threats.
"Government and industry must be nimble, share information, use global standards and keep a risk-based mindset when developing counter-measures.
"Flying is safe and it is secure. But we cannot take that for granted, for even a second."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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