Is it still safe to fly?

The tragic loss of a Germanwings 180-seat A320 over France yesterday adds to a horrific year of high profile plane crashes.

Germanwings had a perfect record and is owned by one of the world’s most respected airlines, Lufthansa.

Read: Germanwings safety and in flight product rating

Flying across Europe on Germanwings should have been the safest thing you could do while the Airbus A320 is one of the world’s safest planes.

What's more, the airline has passed all the key safety audits with flying colours.

The Germanwings A320 crash into the french Alps adds to a shocking list of high profile crashes over the past year – MH370, MH17, QZ8501 and now 4U9525.

While public confidence in the safety of air travel shaken, it is important to keep perspective on the incredible record of aviation.

2014 was the safest year yet despite more deaths with one fatal accident every 4.4 million flights. The world’s airlines in 2014 carried a record 3.3 billion passengers on 27 million flights.

This result was an improvement over 2013 when the global hull loss rate stood at one every 2.4 million flights.

Just last week Tony Tyler, the Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association said that “while aviation safety was in the headlines in 2014, the data show that flying continues to improve its safety performance.”

However 21 fatal accidents with 986 fatalities is sickening.

Flashback 50 years there were a staggering 87 crashes killing 1,597 globally when airlines carried only 141 million passengers — 5 per cent of today’s number.

Though the statistics paint a reassuring picture, the public is nonetheless nervous, with almost 60 per cent of travellers having some fear of flying.

It is essential that French authorities quickly establish the cause of the crash as this is the second fatal accident involving an A320 in just three months.

Indonesian investigators are yet to advise what caused the crash of Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 which was lost on December 28.