Air Arabia, flydubai and Wizz Air named in world's top 20 safest low-cost airlines

AirlineRatings.com has extended its recently announced list for 2022, with three UAE airlines making the cut

AirlineRatings.com has released its 2022 top 10 of the world's safest low-cost airlines. First on the alphabetical list is Air Arabia, the first budget carrier in the UAE.

A Thai Air Asia Airbus A320-200 plane at Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok. Reuters

Allegiant Air operates in the US and is North America's 14th biggest airline. AFP

An airBaltic Airbus A220-300 at Munich International Airport

Incident records, crash records and fleet age were among the factors used to compile the list. UK operator easyJet has 31 planes in a fleet that flies throughout Europe. AFP

flydubai operates to more than 90 destinations from its Dubai hub. Jeff Topping for The National

Colorado carrier Frontier Airlines flies to more than 100 US destinations and employs more than 3,000 staff. Getty

Jetstar Group, launched by Australia's flag carrier Qantas, has operated out of Melbourne since 2017. AFP

JetBlue, which has its headquarters in New York, is North America's seventh-biggest airline by passengers carried. AFP

An IndiGo Airlines aircraft in Ahmedabad, India. The low-cost carrier is the country's largest passenger airline. Reuters

Since its formation in 1984, Irish carrier Ryanair has grown to be one of the giants of low-cost travel, with a fleet of more than 400 and bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. AFP

Singapore Airlines' low-cost subsidiary Scoot Airlines ranks in the top 20. Getty Images

Southwest is the world's largest low-cost airline. AP

India's SpiceJet flies to 64 destinations, including 52 domestic and 12 international routes. EPA

Spirit Airlines, one of the largest low-cost carriers in the US. Bloomberg

Vueling, Spain's largest airline, has hubs in Barcelona and Rome. AFP

VietJet Air flies to 46 destinations from Hanoi in Vietnam. AFP

Volaris Airlines is the second largest airline in Mexico after flag carrier Aeromexico and the main operator for domestic flights. AFP

Canada's WestJet airlines operates more than 700 North American flights a day, carrying more than 66,000 passengers. AFP

Wizz Air, a Hungarian airline that flies to 44 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and that has a subsidiary in the UAE, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, rounded the original top 10 list and is one of the world's safest budget airlines. AFP

We'd all like to travel first class with lie-down flat beds and a butler service while 30,000 feet in the air, but for most of us, that simply isn't possible.

That's where low-cost airlines come in, making flying more affordable. But which are the best when it comes to safety?

AirlineRatings.com has revealed the top 20 safest low-cost airlines for 2022, extending its initial list of 10, in light of "industry and public requests".

Monitoring 385 airlines, it compiled the list using several factors, including incident records over the past two years, crash records over the past five years, results of audits conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the governing body of aviation, EU-banned lists and fleet age.

The list is compiled alphabetically rather than in ranking order, such as with the top 20 list of safest airlines, which this year was topped by Air New Zealand and included both Etihad Airways and Emirates.

Air Arabia is included in this year's updated list, after narrowly missing out on a spot in the initial top 10 list, which was published in January.

The Sharjah airline received a seven-star safety rating in the rankings. The first low-cost carrier in the region has also recently extended to a hub in Abu Dhabi.

Geoffrey Thomas, editor-in-chief of AirlineRatings.com, previously said Air Arabia narrowly missed out on the top 10.

"Our judging is done over nine objective criteria and then a subjective pilot panel that looks at a range of technical issues with industry feedback.

Air Arabia is one of the world's top 20 safest low-cost airlines in 2022. Photo: Air Arabia

"The differences in ranking between the top 20 or so airlines is very fine and this year Air Arabia just slipped out of the top 10. The airline is certainly up there with the best."

Wizz Air, the Hungarian airline that recently launched Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, is also included in the list and has a seven-star safety rating.

Dubai's budget airline flydubai also made the cut in the extended list.

It received a four-star safety rating with top marks in every category except "fatality free" records owing to an incident in 2016 attributed to pilot error.

The top 20 safest low-cost airlines for 2022 are:

Air Arabia (UAE)

Air Asia Group (Malaysia)

Allegiant (America)

airBaltic (Latvia)

easyJet (UK)

flydubai (UAE)

Frontier Airlines (US)

Jetstar Group (Australia)

JetBlue (US)

IndiGo (India)

Ryanair (Ireland)

Scoot Airlines (Singapore)

Southwest Airlines (US)

SpiceJet (India)

Spirit Airlines (US)

Vueling (Spain)

VietJet Air (Vietnam)

Volaris (Mexico)

WestJet (Canada)

Wizz Air (Hungary)

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi recently marked its first year of operations, and announced that its new Airbus A321neo aircraft will fly to three new destinations from February: Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Yerevan (Armenia) and Krasnodar (Russia).

The airline said late last year that it was working on regulatory approvals to start flights to the Indian subcontinent.

The original list of the top 10 airlines included Allegiant, easyJet, Frontier Airlines, Jetstar, JetBlue, Ryanair, VietJet Air, Volaris, WestJet, and Wizz Air.

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World's safest airlines 2022: Etihad Airways and Emirates among best

1. Air New Zealand. AFP

2. Etihad Airways. AFP

3. Qatar Airways. EPA

4. Singapore Airlines. EPA

5. TAP Air Portugal. Reuters

6. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). Reuters

7. Qantas. Reuters

8. Alaska Airlines. AFP

9. EVA Air. EPA

10. Virgin Australia/Atlantic. EPA

11. Cathay Pacific. Getty Images

12. Hawaiian Airlines. Reuters

13. American Airlines. AFP

14. Lufthansa/Swiss Group. AFP

15. Finnair. AFP

16. Air France-KLM Group. Getty Images

17. British Airways (BA). EPA

18. Delta Air Lines. EPA

19. United Airlines. AFP

20. Emirates. Reuters