SKYCLUB TRAVEL BLOG

Airline safety is at the top of everyone’s list when trying to decide who to fly with, as air travel becomes ever more popular, new airlines are emerging all over the world. The demand to reach our destinations quicker and in the most comfortable way is continuously on the rise and, with over three and a half billion people flying every year, it’s only natural that safety is the key factor.

So what are the world’s safest airlines and their determinant factors?

Ranking Authorities

There are several sites which rank the safety of airlines but only a few are recognised as the leading authorities. Two of these are AirlineRatings.com and JACDEC.

AirlineRatings.com

Launched in 2013, AirlineRatings.com  is the world’s first airline safety rating website and was founded by aviation author, Geoffrey Thomas. Its rating system is generally based on the following major factors: audits from governing bodies and leading associations in aviation, government audits and airline fatality records.

To collate this year’s top twenty list, the AirlineRatings.com team also studied the operational history, operational excellence and incident records of each carrier. It uses a rating system of one to seven stars with seven being the top rank. For 2016, as many as 148 airlines out of 407 surveyed received the top seven stars.

JACDEC

JACDEC.com  (Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre) has been around since 1989. It was founded by Jan-Arwed Richter and Christian Wolf and provides global safety analysis on commercial aviation. It monitors over 900 airlines and compiles its top 60 annually.

Its ranking system is quite involved but can be grouped into eight main factors: annual Revenue Passengers Kilometres (RPKs), fatalities, total losses, serious incidents, accident-free years, IATA (International Air Transport Association) membership, the time factor (airline total accident history) and country transparency (how a well a country publishes flight safety events). The results of their findings are published on their website.

The Safest Airlines

Qantas

For the third year running, AirlineRatings.com has rated Qantas the safest airline in the world, but JACDEC has ranked it 13 on its list. With its fatality-free history, it’s easy to understand why Qantas has been placed in the top twenty by both authorities.  Dubbed ‘The Flying Kangaroo’, Qantas has some of the top pilots in the world in its employment and is Australia’s largest airline as well as the world’s second oldest airline which was founded in 1920 (the oldest airline is KLM, founded 1919).

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific is ranked the number one safest airline in the world by JACDEC and is ranked by AirlineRatings.com as number five. Founded in 1946, Cathay Pacific is also often pinned as the ‘world’s best airline’ and ‘best business class’ by review sites such as SKYTRAX. With its amazing on-board customer service, this comes as no surprise. As the One World Alliance member continues on its path of safety innovation, you can be sure to see this carrier in the top ranks every year.

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic claims the number 14 spot on JACDEC’s index and, sitting at number seven, is the only UK airline to have made it to AirlineRatings.com’s top twenty. This carrier has an excellent safety score, having recorded only two incidents in over thirty years of service.

Virgin Atlantic exclusively operates wide-body jets and is frequently lauded for its Upper Class offerings which boasts the longest fully flat beds found on any airline on its New York to London route.

The Rest…

Here are the remainder of the top twenty airlines (in alphabetical order) for both leading authorities so you can see if your favourite airline has made the cut:

AirlineRatings.com

QANTAS, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airlines, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia.

JACDEC

CATHAY PACIFIC Air Berlin, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Delta Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, EVA Air, Hainan Airlines, Japan Airlines, JetBlue Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, QANTAS, Qatar Airways, Sichuan Airlines, TAP Portugal, Virgin Atlantic.

 So there you have it – the line-up for 2016. Did your preferred airline appear here? Your SkyClub expert can tell you about the First and Business class offerings on these airlines so call today to reserve your next trip on one of the safest airlines in the world.