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New Delhi: The world’s safest airlines for 2026 have been announced by AirlineRatings.com. No Indian airline has made it to the list this year. In 2025, IndiGo was ranked 19th in the low-cost category.
The safest airlines list denotes a global assessment of carriers that set the highest benchmarks in safety standards, crew training, and operational discipline. The latest rankings identify the top 25 full-service and low-cost airlines from among hundreds evaluated across the world.
The 2026 rankings increase their focus on crew standards, operational practices, and steps taken to curb risks related to turbulence, the primary cause of in-flight injuries.
Airline Ratings CEO Sharon Petersen reportedly pointed out that the gap between the world’s safest airlines remains very narrow and should not be overstated.
She added: “What stands out this year is how little separates the leaders. Less than four points covered positions one through 14, and at the very top the margins were even tighter, with just 1.3 points separating positions one through six in the full service category. We may be reaching a point where traditional rankings risk being misleading, and where grouping airlines into performance tiers provides a more accurate reflection of reality. All airlines in the Top 25 are world leaders in aviation safety, and claims that one is significantly safer or less safe than another are both sensationalist and false.”
The evaluation took into account indicators of long-standing safety, including incident rates adjusted for total flights, fleet age, serious incidents, pilot training, and international safety audits.
“Much of our criteria remains consistent year on year and considers incident rates adjusted for the total number of flights, fleet age, serious incidents, pilot training and international safety audits. One change for this year is that we are placing a greater emphasis on turbulence prevention, as it remains the leading cause of in-flight injuries,” the CEO said.
Etihad is at the number one spot, followed by Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Qatar Airways, and Emirates. The list also includes Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Virgin Australia, Korean Air, STARLUX, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, ANA, Alaska Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, SAS, British Airways, Vietnam Airlines, Iberia, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Delta, American Airlines, and Fiji Airways.
Petersen said, “This is the first year a Gulf carrier has taken the number one spot. Etihad achieved this through a combination of factors: a young fleet, advancements in cockpit safety, particularly around turbulence, a crash-free history, and the lowest incident rate per flight of any airline on the list.”
She added, “Another change that will be welcomed by our readers is the reinstatement of Singapore Airlines, which was excluded in 2025 following a serious turbulence-related incident.”
The list includes HK Express, Jetstar Airways, Scoo, flydubai (now considered full-service and to be assessed accordingly in future rankings), EasyJet Group, Southwest, airBaltic, VietJet Air, Wizz Air Group, AirAsia Group, TUI UK, Vueling, Norwegian, JetBlue, FlyNAS, Cebu Pacific, Jet2, Ryanair Ireland and UK, Spring Airlines China, Transavia Group, Eurowings Group, Volaris, WestJet Group, and GOLSKY Airline Chile.
About the ranking of low-cost airlines, the CEO said, “Notable changes this year include the inclusion of Spring Airlines China, the first Chinese airline to appear on any of our rankings, and airBaltic, which has made a significant jump into the top 10.” She pointed out, “Overall, it is important to note that every airline featured in the 2026 list has recorded incidents over the past two years, from tail strikes to on-board fires and engine shutdowns, yet the actual incident rate per flight sits between 0.002 and 0.09 across the airlines, which is a true credit to the industry as a whole.”
