No matter how much of a seasoned traveler you are, sometimes it’s still tough to get over that fear of flying. All commercial airlines are safe, but some have literally won awards for their safety, which may put you more at ease next time you find yourself in the cabin. According to AirlineRatings.com, which just released its list of the world’s safest airlines, the top carrier for safety is Qantas, an Australian airline. The website analyzed over 405 airlines across the world in compiling its top-20 list. It used a range of criteria to make its selections, including fleet age, information from government audits, and crash and serious incident records.
Geoffrey Thomas, Editor-in-Chief of AirlineRatings, told CNN Travel, “Qantas was a clear winner given its industry leadership in safety innovation.” Qantas is no stranger to being at the top of the list, having held the “world’s safest airline” title since 2014. The remaining 19 airlines on the list aren’t ranked but provided in alphabetical order. They are: Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, and United Airlines and the Virgin group of airlines (Atlantic and Australia).
After missing the list in 2019, United Airlines has returned to the top 20 due to its brand new planes and a significant updating of its fleet. Japan Airlines was excluded this year, however, because according to Thomas, “One of its pilots was found to be intoxicated at Heathrow airport.”
To browse safety ratings for each airline, visit AirlineRatings’ official list.
H/T: CNN Travel