Airline Ratings last week released a list of the 20 safest airlines to fly. Air New Zealand leads the list as safest to fly this year. Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and TAP appear next, completing the top 5.
Airline Ratings monitors 385 airlines annually to establish the ranking. Air New Zealand was highlighted for operating in unfavorable weather conditions and in locations considered remote.
“Air New Zealand is a stand-out airline with a firm focus on safety and its customers and over the past 18 months, COVID-19 has brought another new dimension to the challenges the industry faces.” said Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas.
The 20 safest airlines of 2022
- Air New Zealand
- Etihad Airways
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- TAP Air Portugal
- SAS
- How many
- Alaska Airlines
- EVA Air
- Virgin Australia/Atlantic
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Hawaiian Airlines
- American Airlines
- Lufthansa/Swiss Group
- Finnair
- Air France/KLM Group
- British Airways
- Delta Air Lines
- United Airlines
- Emirates
In addition to fleet age, other factors taken into account to define the safest companies in 2022 were: airline’s crash over 5 years and serious incident record over two years, audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies, government audits, industry-leading safety initiatives, fleet age, and COVID-19 safety protocols.
“Air New Zealand is very humbled to receive this recognition, particularly given the high safety standards the airline industry holds itself to. We’re in good company and a big congratulations to all airlines on the list,” said Greg Foran, Chief Executive of Air New Zealand.
Considered the safest in 2021, Qantas dropped to 7th place due to an incident at the airport in Perth, Australia. At the time, a company plane made irregular maneuvers during taxiing and almost collided with another aircraft.
The episode occurred in 2018, but was only reported in late 2020, which made it impossible to include the data in the 2021 ranking, explained Airline Ratings.
Safer low cost carrier
The ranking editors also established the safest low-cost carriers, led by Allegiant Air. See the top 10:
- Allegiant
- easyjet
- Frontier
- Jetstar Group
- Jetblue
- Ryanair
- Vietjet
- Volaris
- Westjet
- Wizz
