The world’s airline safety and product rating website, AirlineRatings.com, has announced the top 25 safest full-service and safest low-cost airlines for 2026.
Assessing the results, CEO Sharon Petersen stressed that it was important for the travelling public to understand just how narrow the margins are between the world’s safest airlines, and that small numerical differences should not be interpreted as gaps in safety.
She added: “What stands out is how little separates the leaders. Less than four points covered positions one through 14, and at the very top, the margins were even tighter, with just 1.3 points separating positions one through six in the full service category.
“We may be reaching a point where traditional rankings risk being misleading, and where grouping airlines into performance tiers provides a more accurate reflection of reality.
“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 top 25 full-service airlines for 2026:
- Etihad
- Cathay Pacific
- Qantas
- Qatar
- Emirates
- Air New Zealand
- Singapore Airlines
- EVA Air
- Virgin Australia
- Korean Air
- STARLUX
- Turkish Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- ANA
- Alaska Airlines
- TAP Air Portugal
- SAS
- British Airways
- Vietnam Airlines
- Iberia
- Lufthansa
- Air Canada
- Delta
- American Airlines
- Fiji Airways
Explaining AirlineRatings behind the rankings, she said: “Much of our criteria remains consistent year on year and considers incident rates adjusted for the total number of flights, fleet age, serious incidents, pilot training and international safety audits. One change for this year is that we are placing a greater emphasis on turbulence prevention, as it remains the leading cause of in-flight injuries.”
Commenting on the World’s Safest Full-Service Airlines list, Petersen added: “This is the first year a Gulf carrier has taken the number one spot. Etihad achieved this through a combination of factors: a young fleet, advancements in cockpit safety, particularly around turbulence, a crash-free history, and the lowest incident rate per flight of any airline on the list.
“The airline also participated in our independent onboard safety audit and demonstrated excellent adherence to turbulence management in the cabin.”
The top 25 safest low-cost airlines for 2026:
- HK Express
- Jetstar Airways
- Scoot
- Flydubai
- Easy Jet Group
- Southwest
- airBaltic
- VietJet Air
- Wizz Air Group
- AirAsia Group
- TUI UK
- Vueling
- Norwegian
- JetBlue
- FlyNAS
- Cebu Pacific
- Jet2
- Ryanair Ireland and UK
- Spring Airlines China
- Transavia Group
- Eurowings Group
- Volaris
- WestJet Group
- GOL
- SKY Airline Chile
Petersen commented: “Notable changes this year include the inclusion of Spring Airlines China, the first Chinese airline to appear on any of our rankings, and airBaltic. HK Express claimed the top accolade for a second time, driven by a modern fleet, exceptionally low incident rate, and an almost flawless onboard safety audit.”
Andy Probert is a freelance journalist whose work about global travel news, aviation, business and human-interest features has appeared internationally in print and digital formats.
