During 2007, there were 631 passenger fatalities, 159 fewer than in 2006. The figure is below the average for the decade of 718.9, and is a significant improvement on the 1990s average of 954.4 passenger fatalities a year.

There were 15 fatal aviation accidents in 2007 involving passengers. Whilst this was two more than in 2006 it maintains the long term improvement in the aviation industry ’s safety record. The average number of fatal accidents since 2000 is 16.0, and in the 1990s the average was 24.2.

The findings in the Annual Aviation Safety Report from Ascend, the world ’s leading provider of information and consultancy to the global aerospace industry, measure accidents on revenue passenger flights.

The worst accident in 2007 was in Sao Paulo, Brazil in July when a TAM Airbus A320 overran the runway on landing and struck an office building. All 181 passengers and six crew on board plus a further 12 people on the ground were killed. There were four further accidents in 2007 that resulted in a high loss of life. Combined these five accidents accounted for 517 passenger fatalities, about 80% of the total passenger fatalities for 2007.

Paul Hayes, Director, Ascend, says: “Aviation ’s improving safety record over recent years is a real success story for the industry. In the face of rapid growth, new aircraft, new operators and emerging markets standards have not been allowed to slip. This underlines just how seriously the entire industry takes its responsibilities. However, work is far from complete and the challenge for aviation is to keep setting itself even higher standards for safety and to keep improving. ”