Safety regulation usually has some direct impact on airline costs. All operators aim to operate safely - some more than others - and one might ask, should safety be left to manufacturers and operators, all of whom have a real vested interest in high standards, including the added spur of potential litigation? However, there is, I believe, a clear wish in the minds of the public, and hence governments, for independent and positive regulation. Major fatal accidents frequently cause a clamour of demands for higher safety, and governments, through their appointed bodies, are expected to act. Airlines broadly accept such pressures but wish to see common and consistent standards applied so that the economic burden is spread equally - preferably internationally.

ICAO requires all aircraft involved in international navigation to conform to ‘a detailed and comprehensive code’, but the detailed provisions and their interpretation may vary from country to country.