Air New Zealand has been put at the top of the list of the safest airlines in the world for 2022 by AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only safety, product, and COVID-19 rating website. AirlineRatings.com has also announced its Top Twenty Safest Airlines and Ten Safest Low-Cost Airlines for 2022 from the 385 it monitors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnqO9R1YYfQ

Evaluating Factors of the Safest Airlines in the World

In making its evaluation of the safest airlines in the world, AirlineRatings.com takes into account a comprehensive range of factors that include: airline’s crash over 5 years and serious incident record over two years, audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies, government audits, industry-leading safety initiatives, fleet age, and COVID-19 safety protocols. In selecting Air New Zealand as the world’s safest airline for 2022,  AirlineRatings.com editors noted that the airline operates in some of the most challenging weather conditions and remote environments. It is also leading the way with technical innovation and has a very young fleet with an average age of just 6.8 years. SEE: Geoffrey Thomas discusses groundbreaking MH370 tracking. READ: After Qantas Airbus order Boeing must rethink the 737 MAX. Air New Zealand has also been involved in a range of safety improvements such as the Future Air Navigation System; real-time monitoring of its engines across its fleet, and precision approaches around mountains in the cloud, using RNP. Air New Zealand's chief executive Greg Foran said; "Air New Zealand is very humbled to receive this recognition, particularly given the high safety standards the airline industry holds itself to. We're in good company and a big congratulations to all airlines on the list. "The Air New Zealand promise is to take manaaki (care) further. To do that we have to take our approach to safety further. For us, it’s not about safety first – it’s about safety always. We want everyone to go home safely every day. “Throughout the pandemic, the whole Air New Zealand team has been focused on protecting the health and safety of our people, customers, and the wider New Zealand community. We were the first airline in the world to ask our customers flying on our domestic services to either be vaccinated or tested before boarding and come 1 February, will require all customers on our international services to be fully vaccinated too." Airlineratings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said; "Air New Zealand is a stand-out airline with a firm focus on safety and its customers and over the past 18 months, COVID-19 has brought another new dimension to the challenges the industry faces. "Air New Zealand has excelled across the broad safety spectrum never losing sight of the smallest detail while caring for its flight crews who have worked under significant stress." The AirlineRatings.com Top Twenty safest airlines have always been at the forefront of safety innovation, launching new aircraft and they have become a byword for excellence. Mr. Thomas added that "there is very little between the top 20, they are all standouts."

The Top 20 Safest Airlines for 2022

The top 20 are in ranking order; Air New Zealand, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, SAS, Qantas, Alaska Airlines, EVA Air, Virgin Australia/Atlantic, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Lufthansa/Swiss Group, Finnair, Air France/KLM Group, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Emirates. Qantas lost its number one ranking due to an incident at Perth Airport in 2018, where a combination of factors caused a 737 crew that had just exited runway 03 to taxi past stop bars and enter an active runway - 06 - almost colliding with another company 737 on its take-off roll. The report into that complex and serious incident was not issued till late 2020, and too late to be included in our 2021 safety rankings.

Top 10 Safest Low-Cost Airlines for 2022

AirlineRatings.com editors also identified their Top 10 safest low-cost airlines. In alphabetical order they are; Allegiant, easyjet, Frontier, Jetstar Group, Jetblue, Ryanair, Vietjet, Volaris, Westjet, and Wizz. Mr. Thomas said that when it came to safety incidents the editors only looked at ones in making its determination. “All airlines have incidents every day and many are aircraft manufacture issues, not airline operational problems," he said. "It is the way the flight crew handles incidents that determines a good airline from an unsafe one." READ: The World's First Country and Airline Safety Comparison Tool AirlineRatings was launched in June 2013 and rates the safety and in-flight product of 385 airlines using its unique seven-star rating system. It has been used by millions of passengers from 195 countries and has become the industry standard for safety, product and COVID-19 rating.