Air New Zealand has gained the top spot from last year’s winner Qantas by the narrowest of margins.
According to AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas: “Our Top Twenty-Five Safest Airlines are all standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of new aircraft.” “The safety margins between these top twenty-five airlines are very small,” Mr. Thomas said. “Between Air New Zealand and Qantas, there is only 1.5 points. It’s incredibly close.”
In making its evaluation, AirlineRatings.com takes into account a comprehensive range of factors that include serious incidents, recent fatal accidents, audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies, profitability, industry-leading safety initiatives, expert pilot training assessment and fleet age.
However, the evaluation leaves out such things as bird strikes, turbulence injuries, weather diversions and lightning strikes as the airline has no control over such events.
In selecting Air New Zealand, AirlineRatings.com editors noted that the airline has a firm focus on safety and has excelled across a broad safety spectrum right down to the smallest detail and its pilots operate in some very challenging environments.
Top25 safest airlines for 2024
The Top Twenty Safest Airlines in ranking are Air New Zealand, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Emirates, All Nippon Airways, Finnair, Cathay Pacific Airways, Alaska Airlines, SAS, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, British Airways, Turkish Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Lufthansa/Swiss Group, KLM, Japan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Air France, Air Canada Group and United Airlines.
Top20 safest low-cost airlines for 2024
The Top Twenty low-cost airlines for 2024 are Jetstar, easyJet, Ryanair, Wizz, Norwegian, Frontier, Vueling, Vietjet, Southwest, Volaris, flydubai, AirAsia Group *, Cebu Pacific, Sun Country, Spirit, Westjet, JetBlue, Air Arabia, Indigo and Eurowings.
“These airlines all have an excellent safety culture and low incident rates,” Mr Thomas said.
