Regulations & Safety
Airbus Launches Destination 10X to Enhance Global Aviation Safety
Airbus introduces Destination 10X to reduce accident rates by 10 times, addressing challenges from growing global air traffic with collaborative solutions.
This article is based on an official press release from Airbus and additional background data regarding industry safety trends.
As global air traffic projections indicate a doubling of flight volumes by 2040, Airbus has initiated a major safety platform titled Destination 10X. According to an official announcement from the manufacturer on December 9, 2025, the initiative aims to reduce the global aviation safety accident rate by a factor of 10, moving the industry benchmark from approximately one fatal accident per 10 million departures to one in 100 million.
The program represents a strategic shift from top-down regulatory mandates toward collaborative, “bottom-up” problem solving. By connecting airlines, regulators, and industry experts in regional workshops, Airbus intends to co-create pragmatic solutions for immediate threats, ranging from runway incursions to satellite navigation interference.
The core rationale behind Destination 10X is statistical necessity. Industry forecasts from organizations such as IATA and Airbus’s own Global Market Forecast predict annual traffic growth of 5-6% over the next 15 years. If the current accident rate remains static while traffic doubles, the absolute number of accidents would statistically double, a scenario Airbus leadership describes as untenable.
Yannick Malinge, Senior Vice President and Chief Product Safety Officer at Airbus, emphasized the urgency of this proactive approach in a statement regarding the initiative:
“We must ask ourselves the question ‘what could be the impact on Safety of a doubling of air traffic?’. Without industry-wide action to lower the accident rate, by 2030 we will be experiencing accidents more frequently. This is clearly unacceptable.”
To achieve the “10X” reduction, the platform focuses on voluntary information sharing rather than waiting for new regulations. This allows for faster implementation of safety tools, such as checklists, visual aids, and awareness campaigns designed directly by the flight and ground crews who use them.
Recent workshops facilitated by Destination 10X have identified and addressed specific operational hazards that have seen statistical upticks in recent safety reports.
With 2024 safety data indicating a rise in non-fatal incidents like runway excursions, Destination 10X working groups have targeted ground safety as a priority. According to Airbus, participants recently designed “serious comics”, educational storyboards, to improve situational awareness among pilots and ground crews during taxi and towing operations. These visual aids are digitized and distributed globally via the Destination 10X app, providing immediate, accessible training materials. A growing concern for operators, particularly in the Middle East and Europe, is the loss of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals due to radio frequency interference (jamming or spoofing). The platform has been used to disseminate best practices for utilizing alternative navigation aids, such as Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) and Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), when GPS is compromised.
Furthermore, Airbus has utilized these forums to brief operators on technical upgrades, including future Multi-Mode Receivers (MMR) designed to be more resilient to such interference.
The initiative relies heavily on regional engagement to capture local operational nuances. Following a European stakeholder event in November 2025, the platform is currently preparing for a South East Asia regional workshop scheduled for December 17–18, 2025, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Captain Anders Hedblom, Fleet Safety Manager at Qatar Airways, participated in a recent Middle East workshop and highlighted the value of the collaborative format:
“Everyone is brought into the discussion, promoting ideas and learning from others. Representing a large airline with global operations gave me a great opportunity to share our experiences.”
The launch of Destination 10X marks a significant evolution in aviation safety culture. Historically, major safety leaps have followed tragic accidents or strict regulatory overhauls. By attempting to improve safety metrics by an order of magnitude before the projected traffic surge fully materializes, Airbus is attempting to break the link between traffic volume and accident frequency.
However, the success of such a voluntary platform depends entirely on adoption. While “serious comics” and posters offer excellent accessibility, the challenge will be ensuring these “soft” tools translate into rigorous adherence to procedure in an increasingly crowded sky. The focus on GNSS interference is particularly timely, acknowledging that modern safety threats are often technological and external, rather than purely mechanical or aerodynamic.
Airbus Launches “Destination 10X” to Revolutionize Aviation Safety Standards
The Strategic Imperative: Scaling Safety with Growth
Operational Focus Areas
Mitigating Runway Incursions
Combating GNSS Interference
Regional Engagement and Industry Feedback
AirPro News Analysis
Sources
Photo Credit: Airbus