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Executive Summary

Ensuring safety remains paramount

Continuous improvement in global aviation safety is fundamental to ensuring air transport continues to play a major role in driving sustainable economic and social development around the world. For an industry that directly and indirectly supports the employment of 56.6 million people, contributes over $2 trillion to global gross domestic product (GDP), and carries over 2.5 billion passengers and $5.3 trillion worth of cargo annually, safety must be aviation's first and overriding priority.

With air traffic projected to double in the next 15 years, current and emerging safety risks must be addressed proactively to ensure that this significant capacity expansion is carefully managed and supported through strategic regulatory and infrastructure developments. It is therefore imperative that States and regions remain focused on establishing, updating and addressing their safety priorities as they continue to encourage expansion of their air transport sectors. To ensure that continuous safety improvement and harmonized global air navigation modernization advance hand-in-hand, global, regional and State aviation safety planning is essential. This also facilitates the safe and sustained growth, increased efficiency and responsible environmental stewardship that societies and economies globally expect and demand of Government aviation agencies and industry.