London - This year has been the safest-ever for air travel, according to figures released.
Fatal crashes and the number of people killed fell sharply compared with 2011. And the fatal accident rate of one per 2.5 million flights made 2012 the safest year on record and almost twice as safe as 2011, flight advisory service Ascend said.
There were 15 fatal plane crashes in 2012 compared with 25 last year, with 362 deaths compared with 403 in 2011.
Nearly three quarters of this year's fatalities came in two incidents.
A total of 127 people were killed when a Bhoja Air Boeing 737 crashed in Pakistan in April, and 153 people died when a DANA Air jet crashed in Nigeria in June.
Insurance claims for loss of airliners in 2012 are around 980 million dollars - the lowest level since 1991. - The Independent