Air travel took a backseat in 2020 due to the pandemic. However, things are slowly bouncing back to normalcy with countries and airlines resuming operations. And with this, safety during air travel has become a top priority. Airlineratings.com has revealed the list of safest airlines for 2021 and two UAE airline has made the cut.
Also read: Emirates Named World’s Safest Airline During Covid-19
Findings From The Survey
Qantas, Australia’s largest airline and the country’s flag carrier was ranked first by airlineratings.com. The airline operated fewer flights in 2020. However, it is set to begin selling tickets on almost all international routes again from July 1, 2021.
Dubai’s Emirates ranked as the fifth safest airline in 2020 and Etihad, the national airline of the UAE, was listed in seventh position.
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— Airline Ratings (@Airline_ratings) January 4, 2021
The Top 20 Safest Airlines In The World
1. Qantas
2. Qatar Airways
3. Air New Zealand
4. Singapore Airlines
5. Emirates
6. EVA Air
7. Etihad Airways
8. Alaska Airlines
9. Cathay Pacific Airways
10. British Airways
11. Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic
12. Hawaiian Airlines
13. Southwest Airlines
14. Delta Airlines
15. American Airlines
16. SAS
17. Finnair
18. Lufthansa
19. KLM
20. United Airlines
Parameters Taken Into Account For The Rating
When it came to pointers to be considered for the rating, the airline safety website considered serious incidents airlines were involved in over the past 12 months. The worst air disaster that happened in 2020 was the Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 in Iran in January that killed 176 people. Pakistan International Airlines was the second highest with 98 people dying in a fatal crash in May 2020. An Air India Express crash killed 21 in August.
The total number of air disasters in 2020 came to 40. This was lower than 2019- where 86 incidents were recorded. According to aviation consulting firm To70, the death rate per incidence was higher with 299 people killed in 2020. This increase was despite the number of commercial flights falling by an estimated 42%, according to Flightradar24.
Also read: Emirates Bags Top Spot of Best Airline Worldwide At Business Traveller Middle East Awards
Other Categories Taken Into Consideration
1. Audits from governing and industry bodies
2. Government audits
3. Crash and serious incident records from individual airlines
4. Profitability
5. Industry-leading safety initiatives
6. Fleet age
In addition, the global pandemic also brought a few additional terms to be considered before declaring an airline safe. Aircrafts that had been parked for months had to be certified safe. The retraining of crew, pilots and ground staff after periods of non-service were also considered to conclude its ranking.
“Last year was extremely difficult for airlines with Covid-19 slashing travel and Airline Ratings editors have looked particularly at the lengths airlines are going to retrain pilots ahead of a return to service. In the case of Qantas, a 737 pilot goes through a six-day course, including a day on well-being,” said Airline Ratings’s editor-in-chief, Geoffrey Thomas.