GENEVA, Switzerland, March 7 (UPI) -- Air travel safety reached record levels in 2004, the International Air Transport Association reported Monday.
The Geneva-based IATA said while air traffic increased by 15 percent from 2003 to 2004, the number of accidents only increased by four, from 99 accidents to 103, or 4 percent.
"Over 1.8 billion people traveled safely in 2004. Tragically, however, 428 people lost their lives in commercial aircraft accidents. To put that into perspective, that is a similar number to 1945 when the industry carried only 9 million passengers," IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said.
He said his group is committed to reducing the accident rate by another 25 percent by 2006.
