Airlines have urged western governments to do more to improve the safety of flying in Africa, after a week in which more than 160 people died in plane crashes in Nigeria and Ghana.

Speaking at an industry gathering in Beijing, Tony Tyler, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents most major airlines, said a list of African operators banned from the EU includes several that are safe, and that the EU is failing to aid others needing practical help in the continent with the world's worst accident record.