IATA Launches Africa Safety Programme to Close Aviation Safety Gap

July 24, 2026 in Travel & Tourism by Editor

Enugu Air Flight 4264 from Lagos suffered a runway excursion diring the landing roll at Benin Airport, Nigeria on July 23, 2025

IATA has launched a continent-wide aviation safety training programme under its Focus Africa initiative to help reduce Africa’s accident rate through practical workshops on safety management, runway safety, ground operations and emerging operational risks.

 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched a continent-wide programme of safety training workshops aimed at helping African aviation to improve operational safety, one of its biggest performance gaps with the rest of the world.

The initiative, unveiled in Nairobi under IATA’s Focus Africa programme, will provide monthly workshops and webinars designed to equip aviation professionals with practical skills to improve safety management, ground operations and risk mitigation.

The move comes as Africa continues to record accident rates significantly above the global average despite recent improvements.

According to IATA, Africa recorded 7.86 accidents per million flight sectors in 2025, an improvement from the continent’s five-year average of 9.37 accidents per million sectors. However, the figure remains several times higher than the global average, highlighting the need for sustained investment in safety systems and human capacity.

“The all-accident rate for Africa was 7.86 accidents per million sectors in 2025. That’s an improvement compared to Africa’s five-year average of 9.37, but as this is still several times the global average, we have more work to do,” said Kamil Alawadhi, IATA’s Regional Vice-President for Africa and the Middle East.

He said the Collaborative Aviation Safety Improvement Programme (CASIP) is intended to bring together industry expertise to strengthen safety performance across the continent through practical training and knowledge sharing.

“Through the CASIP safety workshops, we are bringing together the expertise of industry partners to foster knowledge exchange and give safety professionals practical tools and best practices that can help strengthen safety performance across the continent,” Alawadhi said.

The programme began with an in-person Safety Management Systems (SMS) workshop in Nairobi earlier this month, delivered with support from Boeing, Kenya Airways and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA).

Further training sessions are scheduled throughout the year, covering some of the industry’s most pressing operational risks.

August’s programme will focus on Ground Operations Risk Management, followed by a Space Debris Awareness webinar in September. An in-person Runway Safety Workshop is planned for October, while November will address Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Frequency Interference, an emerging operational concern for airlines worldwide.

The programme also complements broader efforts under IATA’s Focus Africa initiative, which seeks to improve aviation’s contribution to economic development by addressing long-standing constraints including safety, infrastructure, connectivity, sustainability and affordability.

CASIP brings together an extensive coalition of international aviation organisations, manufacturers and airlines, including the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA), Airbus, Boeing, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), IFALPA and Kenya Airways.

The collaborative approach reflects growing recognition that improving aviation safety in Africa requires coordinated action by regulators, airlines, manufacturers, air navigation service providers and international partners.