Regional Airlines Safety Study: Preliminary Information Paper

The regional airline industry is an integral part of the Australian air transport system, and is particularly important in rural and remote areas. The industry has a major role in supplementing the high capacity airlines and providing feeder services into the capital cities.

The accident rate for regional airlines has remained relatively stable since 1990, although it is higher than the rate for high capacity air transport.

Partly as a result of a small number of highly publicised fatal accidents involving regional airlines, there has been considerable debate about safety standards within this sector of the industry both in Australia and overseas. BASI believes that there are opportunities for improving the safety levels of regional airlines through the identification of safety issues before they result in serious incidents or accidents.

Discussions with industry personnel have highlighted a range of issues which they believe need attention. This preliminary report outlines the issues raised.