Last updated: September 24, 2026
Choosing an airline is not just about price or comfort. For many travelers, safety is the deciding factor.
While flying remains the safest form of transport globally, understanding which airlines consistently lead in safety standards can give you extra peace of mind before you book.
Based on the most recent findings, this guide explains what is the safest airlines in the world, highlights the top 20 safest airlines in the world, and clarifies how these rankings are determined.
KEY INSIGHTS
The top 5 safest airlines are Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, Qatar Airways, and Emirates, based on the latest global safety rankings from AirlineRatings, adjusted for fleet age, incident rates per flight, pilot training, and international safety audits. In the list below, we break down the top 10 safest airlines in the world:
According to AirlineRatings, the difference between the first and the tenth airline is just 1.3 points, which means this ranking reflects operational consistency, not dramatic safety gaps.
Let's break down what makes the top 10 airlines stand out from the rest in terms of safety. To ease your mind, we've also included each airline's delay/cancellation performance in the past year based on reported flights to SkyRefund.
Etihad ranks as the safest airline in the world due to a combination of measurable safety performance and long-term operational discipline. Etihad Airways is the UAE's national carrier, flying to 110 destinations with 126 aircrafts as of February 2026.
What Etihad it the safest airline in the world?
Etihad's average fleet age is 8.3 years, per its 2026 traffic update, following the addition of 29 aircraft during 2025. Etihad has a high response rate—around 50% of cases result in quick resolutions, efficient communication, and care provided to the passengers in cases of delay and cancellation.
Cathay Pacific is Hong Kong's flag carrier, based at Hong Kong International Airport, it is the second safest full-service airline in the world for 2026.
What makes Cathay Pacific the second-safest airline in the world?
Cathay Pacific maintained an exceptionally low incident rate across a high volume of international flights in 2026. While in terms of resolution rate, there is something to be desired, SkyRefund's experts have noticed an upward trend in the last few months. Additionally, Cathay reported that it won awards for business class and airline-branded lounges and placed second in the World's Best Full-Service Airlines category.
Qantas Airways is Australia's flag carrier and one of the world's oldest continuously operating airlines. Ranked 3rd, Qantas has long been regarded as a global benchmark for airline safety.
What makes Qantas the third-safest airline in the world?
Cirium’s latest data from the July 2026 review placed Qantas in the top 10 globally on-time rankings with 79.76% on-time arrivals, which is broadly consistent with the Australian government data.
Based on SkyRefund reported flights, Qantas has the best performance in the past year, with every 1 in 2 cases reaching a quick resolution, supported by internal disruption policies that actively assist affected passengers.
Qatar Airways is Qatar's national airline, headquartered in Doha, serving over 160 destinations. The airline is ranked 4th among the world's safest full-service airlines for 2026.
What makes Qatar Airways a safe airline?
Cirium's most recent data records 87.47% on-time arrivals. The airline ranks as SkyRefund's best airline in the world for 2025. Qatar Airways is recognisable for its reliability, exceptional passenger experience, value for money, and an impressive 44% success in complaint resolution holding steady throughout 2026.
Emirates, the flag carrier of Dubai, is one of the world’s largest long-haul airlines. Emirates ranked 5th among the world's safest airlines for 2026, according to AirlineRatings' global rankings.
What makes Emirates a safe airline?
The airline has а 80.76% on-time arrival rate, which guarantees efficient operations and efficient disruption management with around 1 in 10 reported flights to SkyRefund receiving a swift resolution. Although Emirates is not a member of a major alliance, its 28 strategic partnerships form a global network that is competitive with the largest airline groups.
Air New Zealand is New Zealand’s flag carrier, operating long-haul routes across the Pacific, Asia, and North America. It is widely considered a strong full-service airline and ranked 6th among the world’s safest full-service airlines for 2026 in AirlineRatings’ safety ranking. The airline is considered safe because of its high safety ranking, audited safety systems, regulator-accepted safety management, and long-standing operational discipline
What makes Air New Zealand a safe airline?
Cirium's July 2026 report placed the airline at 9th position in the Asia-Pacific region with 83.52% on-time arrivals across more than 13,000 flights. This is a significant result as it indicates that the airline was one of the best-performing major carriers in the region in terms of punctuality, but their resolution rate has something to be desired.
Singapore Airlines is the flag carrier of Singapore and ranks 7th among full-service airlines for 2026, holding a seven-star AirlineRatings safety rating.
What makes Singapore Airlines a safe airline?
Singapore Airlines fell out of the 2025 top 25 due to a turbulence-related incident but returned in 2026 after comprehensive safety reviews. It recorded an 85.32% on-time arrival rate, placing it 2nd worldwide based on Cirium's July 2026 report with a successful complaint resolution rate of more than 30% based on reported flight disruptions to SkyRefund.
Beyond performance, the airline is a sustainability pioneer, having implemented sustainable aviation fuel on regular commercial routes and committing to net-zero emissions by 2050.
EVA Air is Taiwan's second-largest airline, ranked 8th among the world's safest full-service airlines by AirlineRatings in 2026, marking the airline's 12th consecutive year on the list.
What makes EVA Air a safe airline?
In 2026, EVA Air maintained its top-tier status, ranking 8th among the world's safest airlines and securing a 5-Star Airline Certification from Skytrax for the tenth consecutive year.
EVA Air’s 2024 sustainability reporting listed its average fleet age at 8.74 years, which supports reliability and maintenance efficiency. In terms of successful claim resolutions, every 1 in 3 cases resulted in swift and positive outcomes.
Virgin Australia is a leading Australian full-service carrier focused on domestic and short-haul international routes, ranked ninth for 2026.
What makes Virgin Australia a safe airline?
Virgin Australia finished seventh in Asia-Pacific in Cirium's 2025 review with 77.60% on-time arrivals, but did not appear in the July 2026 report, indicating a downward trend. Similarly, Virgin Australia has one of the lowest rates of successful resolutions in the past year.
Korean Air is South Korea's flag carrier, operating a global network with a modern long-haul fleet, ranked tenth for 2026.
What makes Korean Air a safe airline?
According to Cirium's 2025 on-time performance data, Korean Air improved to 83.69% on-time arrivals in July 2026, from 75.34% across 2025, remaining among Asia-Pacific's top ten for punctuality and completion. That means Korean Air remained one of the region's top ten performers in terms of punctuality and completion in 2026 with a good success rate across submitted claims.
According to AirlineRatings, the world's 5 safest low-cost airlines for 2026 are HK Express, Jetstar, Scoot, easyJet, and Southwest. The rankings are dominated by Asian and European airlines, which is not surprising, as both continents have the largest number of low-cost carriers.
The table below breaks down the full list of the 10 safest low-cost carriers.
| Rank | Airline | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HK Express | Asia |
| 2 | Jetstar Airways | Oceania |
| 3 | Scoot | Asia |
| 4 | easyJet Group | Europe |
| 5 | Southwest Airlines | North America |
| 6 | airBaltic | Europe |
| 7 | VietJet Air | Asia |
| 8 | Wizz Air Group | Europe |
| 9 | AirAsia Group | Asia |
| 10 | TUI UK |
Europe |
flyDubai was also part of the original list, but they're currently considered a full-service airline, which is why we've excluded them from the table.
Safety rankings show that budget airlines operate at the same regulatory safety level as full-service carriers. Low-cost carriers generally have younger fleets with modern safety technologies. But legacy carriers undergo the same regular checkups to ensure their fleets maintain high standards of safety.
Our table below breaks down the full list of the 25 safest airlines in the world in 2026.
| Rank | Airline | Region | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Etihad Airways | Middle East | Full-service |
| 2 | Cathay Pacific | Asia-Pacific | Full-service |
| 3 | Qantas | Oceania | Full-service |
| 4 | Qatar Airways | Middle East | Full-service |
| 5 | Emirates | Middle East | Full-service |
| 6 | Air New Zealand | Oceania | Full-service |
| 7 | Singapore Airlines | Asia-Pacific | Full-service |
| 8 | EVA Air | Asia-Pacific | Full-service |
| 9 | Virgin Australia | Oceania | Full-service |
| 10 | Korean Air | Asia-Pacific | Full-service |
| 11 | STARLUX | East Asia | Full-service |
| 12 | Turkish Airlines | Europe/Middle East | Full-service |
| 13 | Virgin Atlantic | Europe | Full-service |
| 14 | Alaska Airlines | North America | Full-service |
| 15 | ANA (All Nippon Airways) | East Asia | Full-service |
| 16 | TAP Air Portugal | Europe | Full-service |
| 17 | SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) | Northern Europe | Full-service |
| 18 | British Airways | Europe | Full-service |
| 19 | Vietnam Airlines | Southeast Asia | Full-service |
| 20 | Iberia | Europe | Full-service |
| 21 | Lufthansa | Europe | Full-service |
| 22 | Air Canada | North America | Full-service |
| 23 | Delta Air Lines | North America | Full-service |
| 24 | American Airlines | North America | Full-service |
| 25 | Fiji Airways | Oceania/South Pacific | Fulls-service |
Airline safety is evaluated based on several factors aside from crash records. AirlineRatings evaluates more than 320 airlines globally using a multi-layered methodology that includes the following:
Additionally, we've grounded the data in SkyRefund internal reports from the past 16 months and the latest data from Cirium.
Partly, and less than commonly assumed. Fleet age is one input among seven in the AirlineRatings methodology, and the correlation is weaker than headline coverage suggests. Air New Zealand operates one of the youngest fleets in the ranking and places 6th. Qantas operates a substantially older fleet and places 3rd. Etihad's average fleet age of 8.3 years and EVA Air's 8.74 years are close to the global commercial average rather than exceptional.
Fleet age is a better predictor of reliability than of safety. Older aircraft generate more technical cancellations and maintenance-driven delays, which is a disruption problem rather than a safety problem, and one where you may be entitled to compensation. Technical faults arising from routine maintenance are not extraordinary circumstances under EU261 or UK261, so a cancellation caused by an ageing aircraft is usually claimable.
No. Safety ranking and passenger compensation rights are unrelated, and in practice, they often run in opposite directions. What determines your compensation is where you fly from, not who you fly with.
Most of the airlines at the top of the 2026 safety ranking are based in countries with no statutory delay compensation at all. Their home regulators require care, rebooking, and refunds, but not a fixed monetary compensation.
A passenger delayed six hours on a domestic Qantas or Cathay Pacific flight has no legal entitlement to compensation, as Australian and Hongkonger laws don't mandate monetary reimbursements.
A passenger delayed 3 hours on a Wizz Air flight out of Budapest is entitled to €250 or more under Regulation EC261/2004, despite Wizz Air ranking eighth among low-cost carriers rather than third overall.
Even when you fly with the safest airlines in the world, disruptions still happen. That’s where SkyRefund steps in.
If your flight arrived more than 3 hours late, you may be entitled to flight delay compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004 (EU261), for example, provided the disruption was within the airline’s control.
A cancelled flight can entitle you to compensation of up to €600, depending on distance and notice period.
Overbooking remains common, even among top-ranked airlines. If you were denied boarding against your will, you may have the right to overbooked flight compensation. At the end, Safety rankings can offer reassurance, but when travel goes wrong, knowing your rights matters more.
SkyRefund handles airline communication and legal steps on a no win, no fee basis. Just submit your claim for compensation!
Etihad Airways is currently ranked as the safest airline in the world, according to the latest AirlineRatings global safety assessment.
There is no single “most dangerous airline” today, but American Airlines and Air France have historically been listed as the airlines with the most recorded crashes, according to various sources. That does not mean that they are unsafe today. Many of the accidents occurred decades ago, when global aviation safety standards were much lower.
Instead of total historical crashes, what matters now is an airline's most recent safety record, pilot training, operational procedures, regulatory audits, and incident rate per flight. That is why modern safety rankings prioritize current performance, with airlines such as Etihad, Qatar, Qantas, and Air New Zealand ranking among the safest today.
Based on the most recent AirlineRatings rankings, HK Express is currently ranked as the safest low-cost airline in the world. A mention to Wizz Air and Ryanair as well, with solid performances.
Emirates is among the top safest airlines in the world; it's ranked in the fifth position. Etihad currently holds the position of number one.
According to AirlineRatings' 2026 safety rankings, Alaska Airlines was the safest airline in the United States, ranking first among American full-service carriers.
Qantas has frequently ranked first in past years and remains one of the safest airlines globally, though it is not the current leader.
Finnair maintains a strong safety record but does not appear in the current Top 10 global ranking.
Ryanair is considered one of the safest low-cost airlines, but it does not top the global full-service ranking.
Yes, Philippine Airlines is considered a safe airline. Despite not ranking in the top 20, it ranks as one of the safest airlines in the Philippines.
Not necessarily, and the 2026 data shows the two barely correlate. Qantas ranks 3rd for safety and also performs strongly on punctuality, but Virgin Australia ranks 9th for safety while dropping out of Cirium's regional top ten entirely in July 2026.
Safety is governed by engineering, training, and audit regimes. Punctuality is governed by network design, hub congestion, and airspace access. An airline can excel at one and fail at the other.
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Reviewed by Tsvetelina Gorova, Operations Team Lead at SkyRefund
Last reviewed: 23 September 2026
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