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Afraid of flying? Booking on one of the airlines that have just been named the safest in the world for 2026 should give you some peace of mind. Luckily, one of the 10 most-safe in the world is British.
EasyJet has been named the fifth safest budget airline on the planet by independent aviation website Airline Ratings, which monitored 320 airlines from around the world to name the 25 safest full-service and low-cost operators.
The analysis looked at several safety and operational criteria, including whether the airline had had any serious pilot-related safety incidents, and the number of fatal accidents in the past 10 years, excluding accidents caused by terrorism, hijacking, pilot suicides, or involving other airlines. The survey also took into account international safety audits.
EasyJet ranked at number five on the list of 25 budget airlines, beaten by Hong Kong-based HK Express which was named the world’s safest, followed by followed by Australian Jetstar Airways (second place), Scoot (third) and Flydubai (fourth).
Other British airlines to make the list of the 25 safest low-cost airlines were Tui UK in 11th, Jet2 in 17th and Ryanair Ireland and UK in 18th.
Airline Ratings’ chief executive Sharon Petersen said that the margins between the rankings were very small, and stressed that they ‘shouldn’t be interpreted as gaps in safety’.
She added: ‘What stands out this year is how little separates the leaders. All airlines in the top 25 are world leaders in aviation safety, and claims that one is significantly safer or less safe than another are both sensationalist and false.’
The 25 safest low-cost airlines in the world for 2026
- HK Express
- Jetstar Airways
- Scoot
- Flydubai
- EasyJet
- Southwest
- AirBaltic
- VietJet Air
- Wizz Air Group
- AirAsia Group
- Tui UK
- Vueling
- Norwegian
- JetBlue
- FlyNAS
- Cebu Pacific
- Jet2
- Ryanair Ireland and UK5
- Spring Airlines China
- Transavia Group
- Eurowings Group
- Volaris
- WestJet Group
- GOL
- Sky Airline Chile
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