The safest airline in the world in 2025 sure puts in a lot of miles.
Air New Zealand, which flies one of the longest regularly-scheduled routes on the entire planet, took took the top award, handed out by AirlineRatings.com.
The Kiwi carrier serves Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, from New York’s JFK Airport — a distance of 8,828 miles. The trip takes 16 hours and 15 minutes.
“It was extremely close again between Air New Zealand and Qantas for first place with only 1.50 points separating the two airlines, AirlineRatings.com CEO Sharon Petersen said in a written 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,” Petersen explained.
The “World’s only airline safety and product rating website” has been around since 2012, formed by a team of aviation writers, editors and researchers.
In order to reach the final rankings, the site’s resident pros look at serious incidents, incident management, fleet age, fleet size, rate of incidents, fatalities, financial stability, pilot skill and training and more. They also consult with pilots and aviation experts.
The antipodean airlines topped a list of 25 singled out from the 385 the site is said to monitor.
Alaska (at number nine) was the highest-ranked U.S. carrier, with Hawaiian at No. 12, American at No. 13, Delta at No. 21 and United all the way at the bottom.
The insiders stated that Alaska’s high-profile Flight 1282 incident last year – when a door opened during a flight – was due to manufacturing defects with the Boeing aircraft, rather than the fault of the airline.
Top 25 Full-Service Airlines for 2025
- Air New Zealand
- Qantas
- Cathay Pacific; Qatar Airways; Emirates
- 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
Singapore Airlines, a highly-rated carrier that also flies long-long-haul, was squeezed out of the ranking “due to incidents that occurred,” according to the site. Iberia and Vietnam Airlines were added.
The air experts also took a close look at low-cost airlines, rounding up the best of the bunch.
Hong Kong Express took first place, while India’s Jetstar came in second. Ryanair and easyJet, well known to domestic flyers in Europe and the UK, came in third and fourth.
Frontier Airlines was rated the safest in the US, with Southwest a distant ninth. Sun Country came in 15th while JetBlue was squeezed all the way down to 17.
Top 25 Safest Low-Cost Airlines for 2025
- Hong Kong Express
- Jetstar Group
- Ryanair
- easyJet
- Frontier Airlines
- AirAsia
- Wizz Air
- VietJet Air
- Southwest Airlines
- Volaris
- flydubai
- Norwegian
- Vueling
- Jet2
- Sun Country Airlines
- WestJet
- JetBlue Airways
- Air Arabia
- IndiGo
- Eurowings
- Allegiant Air
- Cebu Pacific
- ZipAir
- SKY Airline
- Air Baltic
Reviewers praised Hong Kong Express for a “relatively flawless safety record.” They also noted that Spirit Airlines was left off the list due to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late 2024.
