For the second year in a row Qantas has narrowly missed out on being crowned the world’s safest airline, with Air New Zealand taking the top spot for 2025.
In the annual evaluation by AirlineRating.com, which monitored 385 global airlines, Qantas’ cross-Tasman rival landed at number one for the second year running. Qantas last held the number one spot in 2023.
The ranking considers factors such as incident records over the past two years, fleet age, pilot training, results of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) country audits, and other safety measures.
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Turbulence incidents, weather issues, bird strikes and weather issues are not considered, as airlines cannot control such events.
“It was extremely close again between Air New Zealand and Qantas for first place with only 1.50 points separating the two airlines,” AirlineRatings.com CEO Sharon Petersen said.
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“Whilst both airlines uphold the highest safety standards and pilot training, Air New Zealand continues to have a younger fleet than Qantas which separates the two.”
Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran praised the airline for “consistently and diligently putting safety at the forefront of everything we do”.
“Operational integrity is at the heart of our business. We have a strong culture of safety that puts our team and passengers first. I’m proud of how this culture has been fostered over many years and how it underpins every aspect of the airline’s everyday operations,” he told Stuff Travel.
In equal third place were Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and Emirates, with Sharon adding, “we simply could not separate these airlines. From fleet age to pilot skill, safety practices, fleet size, and number of incidents, their scores were identical.”
Compared to last year’s list, some of the most significant changes include the inclusion of Iberia and Vietnam Airlines (which have made their list debut), as well as Korean Air’s rise into the top 10.
Notable absences this year are Singapore Airlines and KLM. Sharon Petersen emphasised that while these airlines remain exceptionally safe and retain their seven-star safety rating, they just narrowly missed out on a spot this year due to incidents that occurred.
The Top 10 Full-Service Airlines for 2025
- Air New Zealand
- Qantas
- Cathay Pacific; Qatar Airways; Emirates
- Virgin Australia
- Etihad Airways
- ANA
- EVA Air
- Korean Air
- Alaska Airlines
- Turkish Airlines (THY)
The website also looked at low-cost carriers releasing a ranking of the best in the world.
Hong Kong Express claimed the top spot. The airline have not had any serious incidents and maintain a relatively flawless safety record.
New additions to the list include Zipair, Jet2, and Air Baltic. Qantas’ budget carrier Jetstar was also just pipped for the top spot coming in second place.
The Top 10 Safest Low-Cost Airlines for 2025
- Hong Kong Express
- Jetstar Group
- Ryanair
- easyJet
- Frontier Airlines
- AirAsia
- Wizz Air
- VietJet Air
- Southwest Airlines
- Volaris
AirlineRatings evaluates safety, in-flight product, and other factors, and its ratings are trusted by millions of passengers from 195 countries. The platform has become the industry standard for safety and product assessments.