The world’s safest airlines have been named for 2025

For travellers out there who find flying quite an anxiety-inducing way to get from A to B, you might find a little comfort in brushing up on the world’s safest airlines. 

AirlineRatings.com produces a list of the safest full-service and low-costs airlines every year, which looks into everything from the fleet age and size to the rate of incidents, fatalities and the skills and training of the pilots. 

Topping the list for full-service airlines is Air New Zealand, which, according to the ranking, upholds the highest safety standards and pilot training across its young fleet of planes. 

Only 1.5 points behind in second place is Qantas, and in joint third it’s Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and Emirates. 

But if you usually fly with low-cost operators, there’s a ranking of those, too. In first place for the budget airlines is Hong Kong Express, which has not had any serious incidents this year, maintaining an almost perfect safety record. 

Jetstar Group and Ryanair claim second and third place, and new additions to this list for 2025 include Zipair, Jet2 and Air Baltic.  

These are the world’s safest full-service airlines

1. Air New Zealand
2. Qantas
3. Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Emirates
4. Virgin Australia
5. Etihad Airways
6. ANA
7. EVA Air
8. Korean Air
9. Alaska Airlines
10. Turkish Airlines (THY)
11. TAP Portugal
12. Hawaiian Airlines
13. American Airlines
14. SAS
15. British Airways
16. Iberia
17. Finnair
18. Lufthansa/Swiss
19. JAL
20. Air Canada
21. Delta Airlines
22. Vietnam Airlines
23. United Airlines

These are the world’s safest budget airlines

1. Hong Kong Express
2. Jetstar Group
3. Ryanair
4. easyJet
5. Frontier Airlines
6. AirAsia
7. Wizz Air
8. VietJet Air
9. Southwest Airlines
10. Volaris
11. flydubai
12. Norwegian
13. Vueling
14. Jet2
15. Sun Country Airlines
16. WestJet
17. JetBlue Airways
18. Air Arabia
19. IndiGo
20. Eurowings
21. Allegiant Air
22. Cebu Pacific
23. ZipAir
24. SKY Airline
25. Air Baltic

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