Air New Zealand was once again named the safest full-service airline in the world for 2025, holding on to the title for a second straight year.
The national carrier of New Zealand has consistently ranked at or near the top of the list for years, but edged out second-place Qantas for the second year in a row, according to AirlineRatings.com, which compiles the rankings each year. For its part, Australian carrier Qantas came in a very close second.
“It was extremely close again between Air New Zealand and Qantas for first place with only 1.50 points separating the two airlines,” Sharon Petersen, the CEO of AirlineRatings.com, said in a statement. “Whilst both airlines uphold the highest safety standards and pilot training, Air New Zealand continue to have a younger fleet than Qantas which separates the two.”
The third place spot on the list was a tie between Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, and Emirates.
“From fleet age to pilot skill, safety practices, fleet size, and number of incidents, their scores were identical,” Petersen said, adding “we simply could not separate these airlines.”
That was followed by Virgin Australia and Etihad Airways to round out the top five.
Alaska Airlines was the only U.S. carrier to crack the top 10, coming in at No. 9 on the list, while Hawaiian Airlines came in at No. 12, American Airlines came in at No. 13, Delta Airlines came in at No. 21, and United Airlines came in at No. 23.
To compile the rankings, the group looked at a series of safety-related factors, including serious incidents over the past two years, the age and size of a carrier’s fleet, the rate of incidents, fatalities, a carrier’s profitability, audits, and the skills and training of the pilots that work for an airline.
This is the full list of the safest full-service airlines in the world for 2025, according to AirlineRatings.com:
Air New ZealandQantasCathay Pacific; Qatar Airways; EmiratesVirgin AustraliaEtihad AirwaysANAEVA AirKorean AirAlaska AirlinesTurkish Airlines (THY)TAP PortugalHawaiian AirlinesAmerican AirlinesSASBritish AirwaysIberiaFinnairLufthansa/SwissJALAir CanadaDelta AirlinesVietnam AirlinesUnited Airlines
