Two Australian Airlines are in the top five of the top 25 safest full-service airlines for 2025, according to AirlineRatings.com.
Qantas and Virgin Australia were ranked as the second and fourth safest full-service airlines respectively. AirlineRatings.com CEO Sharon Peterson said there was a close competition between Qantas and the safest airline, Air New Zealand for the coveted top spot.
“It was extremely close again between Air New Zealand and Qantas for first place with only 1.50 points separating the two airlines,” she said.
“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.”
There was also a three-way tie for third place between Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and Emirates.
“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,” Peterson said.
The top 25 full-service airlines for 2025 in order are:
- Air New Zealand
- Qantas
- Cathay Pacific; Qatar Airways; Emirates (tied for third)
- Virgin Australia
- Etihad Airways
- ANA
- EVA Air
- Korean Air
- Alaska Airlines
- Turkish Airlines (THY)
- TAP Portugal
- Hawaiian Airlines
- American Airlines
- SAS
- British Airways
- Iberia
- Finnair
- Lufthansa/Swiss
- JAL
- Air Canada
- Delta Airlines
- Vietnam Airlines
- United Airlines
Some notable changes in comparison to last year’s list include the inclusion of Iberia (16th), Vietnam making their list debut at 22nd and Korean Air’s (eighth) rise to the top 10.
This year’s list was also characterised by the exclusion of Singapore Airlines and KLM. Peterson said they narrowly missed out because of incidents that occurred this year, but that they are still exceptionally safe airlines.
AirlineRatings.com also ranked the Top 25 safest low-cost airlines for 2025, with Hong Kong Express taking out the top spot and Jetstar second.
Airlines on each list are ranked based on a series of criteria including serious incidents in the past two years, how the incidents are managed, fatalities, pilot skill and training and more.