Most Dangerous Aviating Nation for 2006 -IATA's Report Card Names ....

Russia got the guernsey for the most dangerous country in which to fly in 2006 according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA's 2006 Safety Report revealed that Russia and CIS countries had a rate of 8.6 Western-built hull losses per million flights, which is a stunning 13 times higher than the overall global average. Unexpectedly Africa came in second place with only 4.31 accidents per million flights (down from 9.2). These figures are based upon hull losses. In actual numbers, major global accidents fell to 77 from 111 a year earlier. There was one accident per 1.5 million flights on Western-built aircraft in 2006, an improvement of 14 percent over 2005. About 43 percent of incidents took place due to bad weather. Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO, said: "The safety results for 2006 are impressive. Air transport remains the safest form of travel. But we must do even better." While conceding that the goal of zero accidents was likely unachievable, he added that: "With demand for air travel increasing at 5.5 to 6 percent per year, the accident rate must decrease just to keep the actual number of accidents in check." He nominated an interim target of reducing the industry rate to 0.49 accidents per million flights in 2008 (a 25 per cent improvement over 2006 - the safest flying year yet). Commenting upon another significant trend, Bisignani noted that cargo accounted for just four percent of traffic last year yet 24 percent of the serious accidents. Earlier this month, findings from Barclaycard Business' latest business travel survey suggested that 96 percent of corporate flyers feel safe onboard their flights. IATA lists a membership of some 250 airlines and thus represents around 94 percent of the world's scheduled international air traffic