Emirates, Etihad among safest airlines in the world

Emirates and Etihad Airways named among the world’s top 20 safest airlines for 2016 while Qantas is named the safest for the third year running

6 January 2016

Dubai:  Two major Gulf carriers, Emirates and Etihad Airways, have just been named among the world’s top 20 safest airlines for 2016.

AirlineRAtings.com, which regularly tracks 407 airlines, picked Australia’s Qantas as the world’s safest. Holding the top spot for the third year running, Qantas has never had a fatal jet airliner accident.

Making up the remainder of the top 20 in alphabetical order are: Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia.

The rating website said it does not numerically rank its safest airlines as “they are so close in operational safety”, but it does pick out “one overall standout airline.”

“However, there is no question that Qantas remains a standout in safety enhancements and best practice,” said Geoffrey Thomas of AirlineRatings.com.

The site looked at a number of indicators to come up with the list, including operational history, incident records and operational excellence of each airline. It also took into account several factors related to audits from aviation’s governing bodies and lead associations, as well as government audits and crash records.

“Our top safest airlines are always at the forefront of safety innovation, operational excellence and the launching of new more advanced aircraft,” said Thomas. “These airlines are always at the forefront for excellence in the safety space.

AirlineRatings also identified the top ten safest low-cost carriers in the world and these are in alphabetical order: Aer Lingus, Flybe, HK Express, Jetblue, Jetstar Australia, Thomas Cook, TUI Fly, Virgin America, Volaris and Westjet.

Etihad, which started operations in November 2003, is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, serving the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America routes.

Among its major strengths include its “award winning in flight product in all classes” and the availability of nannies on board to assist passengers with children on long haul flights.

Another fast-growing carrier in the Gulf, Emirates operates more than 170 aircraft to over 120 destinations. It is one of only a few airlines that have a fleet of wide bodied aircraft.

Its in-flight entertainment system and “consistency and quality of in-flight product” are considered some of its major strengths.