Govts urged to take up safety programme

Until the Asiana crash at San Francisco on Sunday, this year had been-crash free. Photo / AP

The organisation representing most of the world's airlines is urging all countries to join up to international safety standards.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) figures show last year was the safest for air travellers.

By the most common measure for aviation safety - tallying the accidents where Western-built jet aircraft have become irreparable - 2012 had been crash- free and until the Asiana crash at San Francisco on Sunday, this year had also had a clean slate.

Among 240 member airlines and more than 380 airlines (including Asiana) that are part of IATA's Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), there were no Western-built hull losses last year.

The association's director-general and chief executive Tony Tyler said since the 900-step audit system had been set up 10 years ago, member airlines had a much better safety track record than non-members.

He said he had urged governments around the world to integrate IOSA rules into their regulatory regimes.

Many had done that, although Indonesia, where some regional carriers have a spotty safety record, had not signed up. "We've urged them to do that," Tyler said in Auckland last week.

The safety records of non-member airlines in Africa were of most concern, where the accident rate is 18 times worse than the global average. But the safety performance of African airlines on the IOSA registry aligns with the global average.