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Survey ranks SIA among top 20 safest airlines

SINGAPORE — Travellers planning their next holiday can add one more resource to their list: Airline review website AirlineRatings.com has released its rankings of the safest airlines to fly with this year, with Qantas topping the list.

Singapore Airlines is among the top 20 safest airlines. Bloomberg file photo

Singapore Airlines is among the top 20 safest airlines. Bloomberg file photo

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SINGAPORE — Travellers planning their next holiday can add one more resource to their list: Airline review website AirlineRatings.com has released its rankings of the safest airlines to fly with this year, with Qantas topping the list.

Local carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) joined the Australian airline in the top 20, along with Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Japan Airlines, Swiss, and Virgin Atlantic. Apart from Qantas, the website did not reveal where the other carriers stood on the list, which was released on Tuesday (Jan 5).

The website surveyed 407 airlines in total and based its ratings on industry and government audits as well as fatality records — Qantas has had no fatalities in its 95-year history. The website said Qantas “has amassed an extraordinary record of firsts in operations and safety”.

The website’s editorial team also examined each airline’s operational history, incident records and operational excellence. Of the 407 airlines surveyed, 148 received the maximum seven-star safety rating, including SIA. Nearly 50 of them had three stars or less, said the website. Ten airlines from Indonesia, Nepal and Surinam only had one star. Batik Air, Lion Air, TransNusa and Xpress Air are some of those ranked among the lowest.

The ratings for other regional and local carriers are a full seven stars for SilkAir, five stars for Tiger and Scoot, five stars for Malaysia Airlines, four stars for Thai Airways, and three stars for Garuda Indonesia. AirlineRatings.com also identified the top 10 safest low-cost airlines, including HK Express and Jetstar Australia.

“Unlike a number of low-cost carriers, these airlines have all passed the stringent International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and have excellent safety records,” said the website.

Citing data from Aviation-Safety.net, the website also noted that while last year had some “tragic and bizarre accidents”, the total of 16 accidents with 560 fatalities were below the 10-year average of 31 accidents and 714 fatalities. Last year’s figures were also a “significant improvement” over 2014 when there were 21 fatal accidents with 986 fatalities, noted the website.

The world’s airlines carried a record 3.6 billion passengers on 34 million flights last year, it added.

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