2010 safety statistics shed a positive light on European aviation
In its recently published Annual Safety Review, EASA confirms that 2010 is "the first year that no fatal accident in commercial air transport operations occurred in the history of aviation in Europe both for helicopter and aeroplane operations". In global terms, the accident rate in aviation has been declining steadily ever since the 1950s.
WEF Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011 ranks Switzerland No 1
The World Economic Forum has for the past five years engaged key industry and thought leaders through its Aviation, Travel & Tourism Industry Partnership Programme to carry out an in-depth analysis of the Travel & Tourism competitiveness of economies around the world. The aim is to provide a platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue to ensure the development of strong and sustainable national Travel & Tourism industries capable of contributing effectively to international economic development.
IATA publishes 2010 Aviation Safety Performance report - lowest accident rate in history
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the aviation safety performance for 2010 showing that the year’s accident rate for Western-built jet aircraft as the lowest in aviation history. The 2010 global accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights of Western-built jet aircraft) was 0.61. That is equal to one accident for every 1.6 million flights. This is a significant improvement of the 0.71 rate recorded in 2009 (one accident for 1.4 million flights).
UNWTO: strong recovery for international tourism in 2010
International tourism recovered strongly in 2010 according to the Advance Release of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. International tourist arrivals were up by almost 7% to 935 million, following the 4% decline in 2009 – the year hardest hit by the global economic crisis. The vast majority of destinations worldwide posted positive figures, sufficient to offset recent losses or bring them close to this target.
Caribbean: hurricane season over
The active 2010 Atlantic hurricane which produced 19 named storms (tied for third with 1995 and 1887), 12 of which became hurricanes ended Tuesday. While the U.S. was spared but other destinations were hit severely, including St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Barbados. Only 1933 (21 storms) and 2005 (a record 28 storms) seasons were more active.
New UNWTO report highlights impact of demographic change on tourism
Demographic change will have major implications for the tourism sector over the coming decades, but also presents important opportunities. This is among the central findings of the recently published UNWTO/European Travel Commission (ETC) report on ‘Demographic Change and Tourism’.
UK: airlines fail to comply with EU passenger compensation rules
The UK Air Transport Users Council (AUC), set up and funded by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to help protect the interests of air travellers, says that airlines are repeatedly failing to meet their obligations under European Union law to aid passengers affected by delays and cancellations.
