Qantas has been named the world’s safest airline for the year.
AirlineRatings.com has revealed its top 20 safest airlines for 2023, with the Australian carrier nabbing the top spot and two UAE airlines making the top 10, out of 385 carriers across the globe.
Etihad Airways, the UAE's national airline, ranks in third place, just behind last year’s winner Air New Zealand.
Emirates is listed in seventh place, climbing 13 places from last year's ranking.
“Etihad and Emirates are both standouts when it comes to safety,” AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas told The National on Tuesday.
“Both airlines lead the world in the purchase of new, safer and more fuel-efficient aircraft. And both carriers have been launch customers for new designs such as the 777X.”
The aviation expert also commended Emirates and Etihad for improving safety standards.
“Of course, there is always room for improvement to reduce the number of serious incidents and in this year’s ranking, both airlines did reduce the number of incidents,” he added.
“There was very little between the top 10 safest airlines in our scoring.”
Qantas is the world's safest airline in 2023
Qantas regained its 2021 top spot in this year's ranking, climbing six places since last year.
The airline has a 100-year operational history and is recognised as the world’s oldest continuously operating airline. It previously topped the annual safety rankings from 2014 to 2017 and again from 2019 to 2021.
During the pandemic, Qantas was forced to ground the majority of its fleet after Australia implemented some of the world's strictest Covid-19 control measures, effectively banning travel.
AirlineRatings.com monitors 385 airlines around the world. A range of factors are considered as part of its annual ranking of the world's safest airlines, including serious incidents, recent fatal accidents, industry-leading safety initiatives, expert pilot training assessment and the age of each airline's fleet.
“Our top 20 safest airlines are all standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation and launching of new aircraft,” said Thomas.
The top 20 safest airlines in the world in 2023
- Qantas
- Air New Zealand
- Etihad Airways
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- TAP Air Portugal
- Emirates
- Alaska Airlines
- EVA Air
- Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic
- Cathay Pacific
- Hawaiian Airlines
- SAS
- United Airlines
- Lufthansa/Swiss Group
- Finnair
- British Airways
- KLM
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
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