In a report published by AirlineRatings.com the flying kangaroo’s safety standards and fatality free record placed it above the 449 other airlines in the running for the websites top ten safest airlines poll.
Ranked using industry audits as well as government checks and the airlines’ fatality records Qantas was praised for achieving “an extraordinary record of firsts” in safety and operations over its 94-year history in what was no doubt a bad year for airline safety.
“There is no doubt that Qantas is a standout in safety enhancements and an industry benchmark for best practice,” AirlineRatings.com editor Geoffrey Thomas said.
“Qantas has been the lead airline in virtually every major advancement in airline safety over the past 60 years.”
AirlinesRatings.com acknowledged the horrific tragedies that have befell the aviation industry in the past 12 months but said the high number of deaths came in a year where deadly plane crashes were at a record low of 21, or one per every 1.3 million flights.
Relatives of MH370 grieve.
Relatives of MH370 grieve.
“Certainly, 21 fatal accidents with 986 fatalities – higher than the 10-year average – is sickening. However, the world’s airlines carried a record 3.3 billion passengers on 27 million flights,” the report said.
Adding: “Two of the crashes last year – MH370 and MH17 – were unprecedented in modern times and claimed 537 lives.”
Messages of hope displayed for the MH370 victims when the tragedy was unfolding.
However the report said aviation has certainly come a long way in terms of safety.
“Flashback 50 years and there were a staggering 87 crashes killing 1597 when airlines carried only 141 million passengers – five per cent of today’s number,” said the report.
Also making the cut in the safest top ten were Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Finnair, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.
Qantas’s budget air service, Jetstar, also made AirlinesRankings.com’s top ten safest low cost list for 2015 along with Aer Lingus, Alaska Airlines, Icelandair, Jetblue, Kulula.com, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook, TUI Fly and Westjet.
“Unlike a number of low cost carriers these airlines have all passed the stringent International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) audit and have excellent safety records,” Thomas said.
Adding: “Low cost does not mean low safety.”
After examining 449 airlines the site gave carriers a safety raking out of seven stars – 149 airlines scored the top mark of seven stars, 50 received just three stars or less and worryingly five airlines (Agni Air, Kam Air, Nepal Airlines, Scat and Tara Air) achieved just one star for safety.
