Qantas named world’s safest airline for third year in a row
07 Jan 2016
AirlineRatings.com, which rates airlines for safety, has rated Qantas as the top for aviation safety ftrom among the 407 airlines it monitors on aviation safety.
According to AirlineRatings.com, which launched its annual listing in 2013, the Australian carrier had an "extraordinary record" with no recorded fatalities since the advent of jet travel.
The others among the top 20, in alphabetical order are:
- American Airlines
- Alaska Airlines
- All Nippon Airways
- Air New Zealand
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
- EVA Air
- Finnair
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Japan Airlines
- KLM
- Lufthansa
- Scandinavian Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- Swiss
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic and
- Virgin Australia
"Our top 20 safest airlines are always at the forefront of safety innovation, operational excellence and the launching of new more advanced aircraft," says AirlineRatings.com editor Geoffrey Thomas. "These airlines are always a byword for excellence in the safety space.
"However there is no question amongst the editors that Qantas remains a standout in safety enhancements and best practice."
According to the site, the rankings are based on "a comprehensive analysis utilising information from the world's aviation governing body and leading association along with governments and crash data." The site said, it considered a range of factors related to audits from aviation's governing bodies and lead associations as also government audits and the airline's fatality record.
However, British Airways, which received the maximum seven-star safety rating awarded to 148 non-budget carriers, failed to make it to the 20 safest airlines list.
Though 2015 saw some high profile aviation disasters, the total of 16 major accidents with 560 fatalities was below the 10-year average of 31 accidents and 714 fatalities and was also an improvement on 2014, which saw 21 serious accidents with 986 fatalities.
