The world’s safest, and least safe, airlines named

How much does the average passenger think about airline safety? Truth be told, most of us try our hardest not to think about the worst-case scenarios – but that isn’t always easy.

Despite a handful of accidents in 2024, the overall message on air travel from authorities remains the same as it has been for decades: flying is significantly safer than driving, with the chances of any kind of accident vanishingly small.

Flying is still significantly safer than driving, and aviation safety continues to be monitored closely.Credit: Getty Images

However, it appears that certain headlines – notably the well-publicised issues with the Boeing 737 Max – have left their mark on some travellers. Data analysts at Quantum Metric say that 20 per cent of people now want to know what plane their airline is using before booking flights.

This month, a new report from AirlineRatings.com takes stock of the publicly available data to rank the world’s safest airlines. But does it really tell the full story about this complex issue? Here’s what you need to know if you’re worried about safety:

How do you measure airline safety?

Leaving aside the obvious headlines (like the tragic crash in South Korea last year), there is no obvious metric for measuring airline safety per se – although AirlineRatings.com has tried its best on that front.

The company says that its ratings are based on input from aviation experts and take into account various factors, ranging from the dramatic (reported incidents) to the more technical (like the age of the fleet and the airline’s pilot training processes).

Flight attendants for Virgin Atlantic undergoing safety training.Credit: Getty Images

While the report gives a ranking to 385 different airlines, it doesn’t go into full detail about the underlying data it uses. It also notes some of the shortcomings of judging airlines by accidents, given that these are typically caused by technical issues with aircraft rather than operational decisions.

For example, it cites the Alaska Airlines flight last year where the plane lost its door mid-flight – something later attributed to lapses in quality control processes at Boeing rather than any decisions made by the carrier.

Similarly, many of the “incidents” recorded by airlines will cover a wide range of different scenarios, most of which probably aren’t the sort of things that nervous travellers necessarily worry about.

How reliable are these rankings?

As you might expect, some experts take issue with the idea of ranking airlines in this way, given that each carrier will operate in different regions and conditions.

“The first placed airline, Air New Zealand, operates to very few destinations, the majority of which are developed countries,” says Nick Eades, a veteran Boeing 747 captain turned author. “Another airline may very well operate to much more challenging destinations, which inevitably create more incidents.”

He also takes issue with the idea that the age of an airline’s fleet is necessarily an indicator of its safety record.

“As long as the aircraft are meticulously maintained, then they are just as safe as new aircraft,” he says. “Some may even argue that they are safer as any design or manufacturing defects would have been discovered and rectified.”

Which are the safest airlines (according to the report)?

Air New Zealand has been named the world’s safest airline, followed by Qantas.Credit: Wolter Peeters

AirlineRatings.com publishes two separate rankings: one for full-service carriers like Qantas and one for low-cost short-haul airlines.

When it comes to full-service airlines, the top spots go to Air New Zealand (in first place), followed by Qantas, then in equal third Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and Emirates, followed by Virgin Australia. Notable absences from the list are Singapore Airlines and KLM. AirlineRatings.com stated that, while both airlines still maintain high safety ratings, they missed out on the top 25 due to incidents in 2024.

For the low-cost carriers, the safest airline is reported as Hong Kong Express, followed by Jetstar. Ryanair finishes in third place, just above easyJet in fourth and America’s Frontier Airlines in fifth.

The 25 safest airlines for 2025 (according to AirlineRatings.com)

1. Air New Zealand
2. Qantas
3. (Equal third) Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong); Qatar Airways; Emirates (UAE)
4. Virgin Australia
5. Etihad Airways (UAE)
6. ANA (Japan)
7. EVA Air (Taiwan)
8. Korean Air
9. Alaska Airlines (US)
10. Turkish Airlines
11. TAP Portugal
12. Hawaiian Airlines (US)
13. American Airlines
14. SAS (Sweden)
15. British Airways
16. Iberia (Spain)
17. Finnair
18. Lufthansa/Swiss
19. JAL (Japan)
20. Air Canada
21. Delta Airlines (US)
22. Vietnam Airlines
23. United Airlines (US)

The 25 safest low-cost airlines for 2025 (according to AirlineRatings.com)

1. Hong Kong Express
2. Jetstar Group (Australia)
3. Ryanair
4. easyJet
5. Frontier Airlines (US)
6. AirAsia (Malaysia)
7. Wizz Air (Hungary)
8. VietJet Air (Vietnam)
9. Southwest Airlines (US)
10. Volaris (Mexico)
11. flydubai
12. Norwegian
13. Vueling (Spain)
14. Jet2
15. Sun Country Airlines (US)
16. WestJet (Canada)
17. JetBlue Airways (US)
18. Air Arabia (UAE)
19. IndiGo (India)
20. Eurowings (Germany)
21. Allegiant Air (US)
22. Cebu Pacific (Philippines)
23. ZipAir (Japan)
24. SKY Airline (Chile)
25. Air Baltic (Latvia)

Which are the worst airlines for safety?

While AirlineRatings.com doesn’t publish rankings for those airlines that don’t make the top 25, its website does include star ratings for different carriers, with 11 current operators ending up with the lowest ranking of one star.

They include four separate carriers from Russia – including Aeroflot – as well as airlines from Nigeria (Air Peace), Pakistan (PIA), Tanzania (Precision Air), Bangladesh (US-Bangla), and Indonesia (Wings Air).

The 12 airlines with one star for safety on AirlineRatings.com

• Aeroflot (Russia)
• Air Peace (Nigeria)
• Beijing Capital Airlines (China)
• Montenegro Airlines
• Pakistan International Airlines
• Pobeda (Russia)
• Precision Air (Tanzania)
• Rossiya (Russia)
• Ural Airlines (Russia)
• US-Bangla Airlines (Bangladesh)
• UTair (Russia)
• Wings Air (Indonesia)

For a more comprehensive picture of airline safety, we can also look at the airlines included on the EU Air Safety List, which bans airlines from flying to or from countries in the EU. The list currently includes carriers from 23 countries, including Armenia, Libya, Nepal, North Korea, Russia and Sudan.

Aeroflot gets a one-star rating from AirlineRatings.comCredit: iStock

In many cases, the classification is largely hypothetical, given that there is little chance of a Libyan or North Korean carrier launching flights from Tripoli or Pyongyang to Europe. But it still sends a strong signal to anyone considering flying with those airlines.

Even so, it’s worth noting that in many cases, the listing isn’t down to any decisions made by the individual airline. It’s usually that EU authorities aren’t convinced that the national regulators in question have the correct procedures in place to uphold safety standards – for example, having an independent aviation safety board.

“A strong regulatory framework is the bedrock of airline safety,” says aviation expert John Strickland of JLS Consulting. “There are so many variables influencing safety that it is really difficult to produce a meaningful list of best or worst carriers.”

Are certain planes unsafe?

Historically, some planes have had safety issues – like the de Havilland Comet in the 1950s. As you might expect, these models tended to be either withdrawn from service entirely or suspended for extensive maintenance.

Aeroplane manufacturers make safety improvements each time they design a new plane.Credit: AP

It was a similar story with the Boeing 737 Max, which was grounded for almost two years until it was cleared by US regulators to fly again (subject to mandated design changes). Canadian, European and Chinese authorities soon followed suit, allowing the updated planes to take to the sky again.

Of course, it’s up to aviation authorities to ensure those procedures are followed, which can lead to some gaps. Last year, the US National Transportation Safety Board warned that up to 40 foreign airlines may still be using the Boeing 737 Max with components that could be unsafe. It did not, however, name any airlines about which it had doubts.

Aeroplane manufacturers also look to make safety improvements each time they design a new plane. To give a recent example, the latest models from Boeing and Airbus (the 787-9 and the A350, respectively) have undergone numerous tweaks to minimise the impact of turbulence – such as installing more flexible wings.

While turbulence isn’t usually a cause of serious safety issues, more severe cases have been known to cause injuries. Last year, one passenger died, and a further 71 were injured after a Singapore Airlines flight from London experienced an extreme bout of turbulence.

Worryingly, there are indications that certain types of turbulence – notably clear air turbulence – are becoming a more common problem for airlines. The boss of Emirates, Sir Tim Clark, believes there has been a rise in these kinds of patterns, which some researchers have attributed in part to climate change.

What can airlines do to improve safety?

In most cases, the factors that affect airline safety – like regular maintenance of aircraft – are set by aviation authorities, which enforce strict rules on how often carriers need to perform checks on their planes. But airlines still make some decisions to reduce risk even further.

For example, Ryanair says that it has increased the scrutiny it performs on its new Boeing 737 Max planes. The planes are delivered to the airline’s maintenance facilities in Dublin, where they undergo extensive checks by the carrier’s own engineers before entering service.

Some airlines are also implementing new policies to deal with more extreme turbulence. Both Singapore Airlines and Korean Air have decided to suspend all meal and drinks services when the seatbelt signs are turned on.

They hope this will reduce the potential for nasty accidents, where passengers have been hit by flying glassware or scalded with hot drinks.

The Telegraph, London