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World leaders at the UN are calling for global measures against terror threats against the aviation industry.

A time of reflection at the UN Security Council, as world leaders looked back on some of the worst attacks on the aviation industry in recent memory to galvanize a strong international response.

"The Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 has been shot down by terrorists in the sky over the eastern part of Ukraine killing 298 people. And this terrible atrocity is a potent reminder of the gravity of threat to the civil aviation," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.

In June this year, gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, just three months after assaults on Belgian transportation hubs. And there have been others.

"The attacks on airports in Brussels and Istanbul, the destruction of the Russian Metrojet aircraft over Sinai last year, and the explosion on board Daalo Airways flight from Mogadishu in February, all these outrages pose a serious threat to international peace and security," UK Foreign secretary Boris Johnson said.

The first-ever UN Security Council resolution on aviation security calls on nations to work with the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization to update security standards and adapt measures to the evolving terrorist threat.

This requires countries to update and implement measures at their own airports, and address any perceived gaps in security.

It also urges tighter screening procedures and airport checks, and better sharing of information on possible threats and techniques for detecting explosives.