Emirates, Etihad rank among world’s safest airlines for 2016
Australia’s Qantas tops the annual ranking by AirlinesRatings.com for the third consecutive year
Dubai airline Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways have been ranked among the top 20 safest airlines globally for 2016 by AirlineRatings.com.
Emirates’ partner Australian airline Qantas topped the list for the third consecutive year thanks to a fatality-free record, the website said in a report.
The site’s annual rating system takes into account factors such as audits from aviation governing bodies and lead associations as well as government audits and the airline’s fatality record.
“Over its 95-year history, Qantas, the world’s oldest continuously operating airline, has amassed an extraordinary record of firsts in operations and safety and is now accepted as the industry’s most experienced carrier,” the report highlighted.
It admitted that 2015 was a disturbing year for airline safety with tragic accidents such as the GermanWings and Metrojet disasters in which up to 374 people were killed.
However according to Aviation-Safety.net data, the 16 accidents in 2015 with 560 fatalities were below the 10-year average of 31 accidents and 714 fatalities.
Last year was also a significant improvement over 2014 when there were 21 fatal accidents with 986 fatalities.
Overall, the world’s airlines carried a record 3.6 billion passengers on 34 million flights in 2015, the report added.
World’s top 20 safest airlines for 2016 (in alphabetical order)
1. Qantas
Country: Australia
2. Air New Zealand
Country: New Zealand
3. Alaska Airlines
Country: United States
4. All Nippon Airlines
Country: Japan
5. American Airlines
Country: United States
6. Cathay Pacific Airways
Country: Hong Kong
7. Emirates
Country: United Arab Emirates
8. Etihad Airways
Country: United Arab Emirates
9. EVA Air
Country: Taiwan
10. Finnair
Country: Finland
11. Hawaiian Airlines
Country: United States
12. Japan Airlines
Country: United Arab Emirates
13. KLM
Country: Netherlands
14. Lufthansa
Country: Germany
15. Scandinavian Airline System
Country: Denmark
16. Singapore Airlines
Country: Singapore
17. Swiss
Country: Switzerland
18. United Airlines
Country: United States
19. Virgin Atlantic
Country: United Kingdom
20. Virgin Australia
Country: Australia