Top 10 Safest Airlines In The World
Australia’s Qantas tops the list, which also includes UAE carriers Emirates and Etihad.
The aviation industry witnessed a spate of tragic accidents in 2014, with the latest being AirAsia flight QZ8501, which disappeared on December 28 with 162 people on board.
The aircraft encountered bad weather while flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, and officials are still searching for its remains in the Java Sea.
Meanwhile massive international search efforts are also still on to find Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared off the Asian country’s east coast on March 8, 2014. The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 passengers and crew aboard, vanished from radars less than an hour after take-off.
The shoot-down of another Malaysia Airlines flight, MH17, over Eastern Ukraine on July 17, which killed all 298 aboard, was also another tragic disaster.
In total, the year saw 21 fatal accidents with 986 fatalities, higher than the 10-year average, according to website airlineratings.com.
The safety and product rating website, which monitors 449 airlines, also recently announced its list of the top 10 safest airlines for 2015, based on audits from bodies such as the FAA and ICAO, government audits and the airline’s fatality record.
The list is topped by Australian carrier Qantas, which has a fatality-free record, and over its 94-year history, has “amassed an extraordinary record of firsts in safety and operations,” the website said.
TOP 10 SAFEST AIRLINES FOR 2015
(2-10 in alphabetical order)
1. Qantas
Country: Australia
Founded In: 1920 (As Queensland & Northern Territory Aerial Services (QANTAS))
2. Air New Zealand
Country: New Zealand
Founded In: 1940 (As Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL))
3. British Airways
Country: UK
Founded In: 1919 (As Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T))
4. Cathay Pacific Airways
Country: Hong Kong
Founded In: 1946
5. Emirates
Country: Dubai, UAE
Founded In: 1985
6. Etihad Airways
Country: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Founded In: 2003
7. EVA Air
Country: Taiwan
Founded In: 1989
8. Finnair
Country: Finland
Founded In: 1923
9. Lufthansa
Country: Germany
Founded In: 1926 (As Deutsche Luft Hansa AG)
10. Singapore Airlines
Country: Singapore
Founded In: 1972