The 20 safest airlines in the world
- AirlineRatings.com released its annual list of the safest airlines in the world earlier this year.
- The publication's editors selected the 20 safest carriers from a pool of 409 airlines.
- AirlineRatings did not name a "safest" airline. Just a list of the top 20.
- Airlines from Asia and Europe dominate the top 20.
Air travel is one of the safest forms of transportation around. And things are only getting better.
That said, some airlines are still better at it than others. That is why AirlineRatings.com releases an annual list of the 20 safest carriers in the world.
"With travel today taking passengers to every corner of the globe, with hundreds of airlines to choose from and a wide variety of standards from one airline to another, it is essential that passengers get the right information about the safety ratings as well as product," AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said in a statement.
The publication's safety-rating system was developed with the help of the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization.
The 20 safest airlines are selected from a pool of 409 carriers. To compile its list, the website's team of editors evaluated each airline based on its standing with international regulators, its fatality record over the past 10 years, the age of its fleet of planes, its result from an International Air Transport Association safety audit, and whether its country of origin conforms with the International Civil Aviation Organization's eight-point safety parameter. All of the airlines on this list passed those tests with flying colors.
This year, the editors at AirlineRatings.com declined to select a single winner. Instead, they simply named the 20 safest airlines in the world in alphabetical order.
Airlines from Asia and Europe dominate the list with eight and seven entrants apiece respectively. No airlines from South America and Africa made the list.
Here's a look at which airlines made the list:
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1. Air New Zealand has made a fine recovery after a period of financial turmoil in the early 2000s. This renaissance culminated with AirlineRatings.com recently naming it the best airline in the world for the third year in a row. Air New Zealand has not suffered any significant incidents in the past couple of decades.
2. It may be called Alaska Airlines, but it's actually based in Seattle. The carrier is a mainstay on the West Coast of the US. Alaska recently made a major splash in 2016 with the $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin America. The Virgin America brand will cease to exist in April. The airline has not suffered a fatal crash since 2000.
3. Founded in 1954, All Nippon Airways is well regarded for its consistent and high-quality service. Last year, Skytrax ranked All Nippon sixth on its list of the world's best airlines. ANA has not had a fatal crash in more than 45 years.
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