Montreal: Aviation leaders will try to secure a mandate to implement new safety standards when they meet next week after a string of high-profile accidents around the world made 2014 the deadliest year for commercial airlines in almost a decade.

Efforts to adopt new standards for global plane tracking and co-operation on the risks of flying over conflict zones will dominate the meeting on safety in Montreal from Feb. 2-5, weeks ahead of the anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH370, the Malaysian Airlines jet with 239 people on board.

"Issues such as flight restrictions over conflict zones can only be tackled at a global or regional level," Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Aviation Safety Agency, said.

"The global aviation regulatory system should also act more quickly to address the recommendations for safety improvement made by accident investigators," he told Reuters ahead of the talks at the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

While statistics suggest flying is safer than ever in proportion to the amount of traffic, 924 people were killed in passenger accidents last year, the worst for loss of life since 2005, shaking perceptions of air travel worldwide.

"No system for identifying, verifying, and sharing threat information is fail-safe, but a centralized database at ICAO at least ensures that identified threat information gets shared on a more widespread and timely basis," said Pillsbury Law partner Kenneth Quinn, a former U.S. official who took part in a task force on the issue.

Next week's conference is likely to call for planes to send tracking signals at regular intervals in normal flight and to speed them up when they get into trouble. It is also looking at ejectable black boxes as one way to aid searches and solve mysteries like that of the missing MH370.