What are the world’s safest airlines?

MELBOURNE: A yearly survey of more than 400 airlines in the world has declared the Australia’s Qantas as the safest airline in the world.

Qantas took home the crown for its “extraordinary” fatality-free record in the jet era.

The Abu Dhabi-based Etihad carrier was also named among the airlines praised for their safety record and the only aviation company from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region to make it into the top 20.

A website named ‘Airline Ratings’ compiled the list after taking into account a number of factors, including airline’s crash and serious incident record; profitability and fleet age; audits from aviation’s governing bodies and lead associations and government audits.

There were 425 airlines surveyed, with 148 of them earning top seven-star safety ranking and 50 achieving only three stars or less. Making up the remainder of the top 20 in alphabetical order are: Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways,  Delta Air Lines, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia.

In choosing Qantas as the world’s safest carrier, AirlineRatings said that over its 96-year history, the Australian carrier has “amassed an amazing record of firsts in operations and safety” and is now accepted by the British Advertising Standards Association as the industry’s most experienced carrier.

“Qantas was the lead airline with real-time monitoring of its engines across its fleet using satellite communications, which has enabled the airline to detect problems before they become a major safety issue,”AirlineRatings said.

At least ten low-cost airlines were also named the safest in the world. These are in alphabetical order: Aer Lingus, Flybe, HK Express, Jetblue, Jetstar Australia, Jetstar Asia, Thomas Cook, Virgin America, Vueling and Westjet.

The world’s safest airline are:

1.Qantas

2.Air New Zealand

3.Alaska Airlines

4.All NipponAirways

5.British Airways

6.Cathay Pacific Airways

7.Delta Air Lines

8.Etihad Airways

9.EVA Air

10.Finnair

11.Hawaiian Airlines

12.Japan Airlines

13.KLM

14.Lufthansa

15.Scandinavian Airline

16.Singapore Airlines

17.Swiss

18.United Airlines

19.Virgin Atlantic

20.Virgin Australia