These Are The World’s Safest Airlines

Air New Zealand narrowly edged past neighbor Qantas to be named the world’s safest full-service airline by AirlineRatings.com for the second year in a row, while Hong Kong Express was named the safest low-cost carrier.

AirlineRatings.com annually compares the safety performance of airlines around the world, evaluating their record of serious incidents over the last two years, the rate of safety incidents, fatalities, fleet size, and age, pilot skill and training, profitability, and audits of the carrier and its home country by aviation’s governing and industry bodies.

Criteria for Safety Evaluations

The evaluations, however, omit injuries from turbulence, weather diversions, and bird strikes, which airlines don’t have control over. When all scores were tallied, just 1.50 points separated Air New Zealand from Australian carrier Qantas.

Photo: Air New Zealand, Airbus A320 tails. Courtesy of Douglas Bagg / Unsplash

Air New Zealand pulled ahead because of its newer planes. According to the carrier, its fleet of 108 airplanes has an average age of just 8.9 years. In contrast, FlightRadar24.com says Qantas’ planes are an average of 14.9 years old.

“While both airlines uphold the highest safety standards and pilot training, Air New Zealand continues to have a younger fleet than Qantas, which separates the two,” Sharon Petersen, CEO of AirlineRatings.com, said.

Photo: Airbus A350-1000. Courtesy of Cathay Pacific

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific and Gulf carriers Qatar Airways and Emirates shared third place.

“From fleet age to pilot skill, safety practices, fleet size, and number of incidents, their scores were identical,” Petersen said. “We simply could not separate these airlines.”

U.S. Airlines Fall Behind

North American carriers had less sterling safety ratings. Alaska Airlines squeaked into the top ten in ninth place despite a high-profile safety incident last January when a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane lost an exit door mid-flight and depressurized.

The incident, which injured three, is still being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), but blame has been focused on the manufacturer Boeing for the faulty door repairs.

Photo: Courtesy of Alaska Airlines

Last year, Hawaiian Airlines was acquired by Alaska Airlines and placed 12th. American Airlines achieved the best ranking among the “Big Three” legacy U.S. carriers, coming in at 13th, while Delta Air Lines followed in 21st and United Airlines in 23rd.

Vietnam Airlines Enters the Top 25

AirlineRatings.com highlighted the performance of Vietnam Airlines, appearing in the Top 25 for the first time, in 22nd place.

“Vietnam Airlines have not had a fatal accident in 27 years, nor have they had any serious incidents,” Petersen said. “The airline operates a fleet of 100 modern aircraft with an average age under 10 years, and the company has passed its IOSA [IATA Operational Safety Audit] certification without fail since 2006.

Photo: Courtesy of Vietnam Airlines

“In addition to this, the country of Vietnam has also made huge strides in aviation safety with better airports, navigation system upgrades, and far more stringent protocols. All of this combined secures them a spot in our top 25.”

Safest Low-Cost Carriers Ranked

AirlineRatings.com also produced a separate list of the safest low-cost carriers. Hong Kong Express topped that list with what they called “a relatively flawless safety record,” without any serious incidents.

With the crashes of Jeju Air Flight 2216 and Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 in December still in the headlines, travelers may feel warier while boarding an aircraft. AirlineRatings.com says air travel is remarkably safe, especially compared to road travel.

The website points to a recent study that found the risk of a fatality was 1 per every 13.7 million passenger boardings globally between 2018-2022.

Photo: Ryanair, Boeing 737-800. Courtesy of Ludomił Sawicki / Unsplash

That’s a significant improvement from the record of 1 fatality per 7.9 million boardings between 2008 and 2017.

However, the death of 217 people just in December 2024 far outstrips the 72 fatalities recorded by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in 2023.

Although both crashes are thought to be partly caused by factors outside of airlines’ control—a bird strike with the Jeju Air flight and a suspected Russian missile strike with the Azerbaijan Airlines flight—the incidents show airlines can’t be complacent with safety.

AirlineRatings.com says its rankings “help passengers make informed choices.”