Africa's high air accident rate will be targeted under a safety plan to be spearheaded by IATA, the Geneva-based airline industry group told African carriers at a meeting in Libya.

Recovering air traffic in Africa is good news for developing economies and aircraft makers but authorities are worried by a safety record that lags international standards.

"Safety, a key concern worldwide and a specific regional challenge, will be soon the object of a new IATA initiative," IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani told the Association of African Airlines' annual general assembly in Tripoli.

"This means to reduce by 50 percent the African accident rate by 2010," the International Air Transport Association (IATA) chief said in remarks published on IATA's web site.

Africa accounted for just three percent of scheduled global air traffic but 17 percent of the fatal accidents from 1992 to 2001, data compiled by Netherlands-based watchdog Aviation Safety Network showed.

Bisignani said IATA had the support of airlines, regulators and plane makers Boeing and Airbus in wanting to tackle the problem.

Steps will include setting up African safety oversight organizations and getting African operators to register with IATA's Operational Safety Audit program.

Training, maintenance procedures and outdated aircraft are all concerns at the continent's underfunded airlines. Safety at airports also needs work.

Technical problems were reported by the pilot aboard a 28-year-old Boeing 737 flown by Sudan Airways before a July crash which killed 115 people.

Two weeks ago, a crew of four landing at Lagos, Nigeria, were cleared to use a runway where construction vehicles were parked. The ensuing crash ripped a wing off the Boeing 747 cargo jet although the crew survived.

The threat of attack also plays a role in the region. This was underscored by the narrow miss for an Israeli passenger plane that came under fire from shoulder-mounted missiles on take-off from Mombasa in Kenya in November last year.

Bisignani said African leaders could strengthen financially weak airlines by steps that included lowering airport and air traffic control charges. He also suggested easing rules to allow more cross-border airline cooperation.

"The bilateral system of air traffic agreements should give way to regional "wide open skies" wherever governments deem feasible," he said.

IATA, which represents more than 270 airlines, reported that three new African carriers had joined in the past year.

It said the African continent's air traffic growth had outstripped world growth in October with a 6.4 percent rise.

(Reuters)