As of 2026, overall safety differences between all major airlines is negligible as there is only a very small variance, less than 1 point, in score value (i.e., airline safety rating) among the top 6 full-service airlines ranked. Therefore, if you are looking for significant diversity (variability) in the level of safety among these airlines, it will not be observed.
Every year, AirlineRatings surveys approximately 325 worldwide airlines. This year, they monitored 320 airlines and ranked them in two (2) groups: 25 safest full-service airlines #1. Stage 1.
Etihad Airways was ranked as #1 Airline – Full-Service Due to the following reasons: young fleet, advances made in cockpit safety (especially with regards to turbulence), excellent independent audit results for their airline including having one of the fewest incidents/accidents per flight, and a clean accident history giving the airline a strong safety image.
One of the significant returns for 2021 is Singapore Airlines. They were removed from consideration in 2025 due to an incident involving severe turbulence and panicked passengers, but have now been returned to the Top 25 list after an extensive review of their operations, as well as visits to the airline’s safety support centers and other operational assessments.
STARLUX Airlines and Fiji Airways both made their first appearances in this year’s Top 25 full-service airline rankings. Even though both airlines are relatively young, STARLUX Airlines, in particular, has received a lot of positive attention for their open and organized approach to safety, winning over many of the larger established airlines as well.
Most of the full-service carriers that made this year’s Top 25 list are as follows:
- Etihad Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Emirates
- Air New Zealand
- Singapore Airlines
- EVA Air
- Virgin Australia
- Korean Air
- STARLUX Airlines
- Turkish Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- All Nippon Airways
- Alaska Airlines
- TAP Air Portugal
- Scandinavian Airlines
- British Airways
- Vietnam Airlines
- Iberia
- Lufthansa
- Air Canada
- Delta Air Lines
- American Airlines
- Fiji Airways
Top 25 Safest Low-Cost Airlines 2026
- HK Express
- Jetstar Airways
- Scoot
- flydubai
- easyJet
- Southwest Airlines
- airBaltic
- VietJet Air
- Wizz Air
- AirAsia
- TUI Airways
- Vueling
- Norwegian Air Shuttle
- JetBlue
- Flynas
- Cebu Pacific
- Jet2.com
- Ryanair
- Spring Airlines
- Transavia
- Eurowings
- Volaris
- WestJet
- GOL Linhas Aéreas
- SKY Airline
Airlines can often give you false impressions when ranked according to traditional scoring systems. By using performance tiers rather than scores alone, we can see just how close each airline’s actual safety standards are to one another.
If your airline made it into the Top 25 list this year, it is already regarded as a safety leader globally. When it comes to safety, can any one of these companies significantly outperform another? Generally speaking, no. The difference in safety between the best airlines in the world is virtually negligible.
Whether you’re flying first class or on a low-cost airline, there is almost no difference in safety at the highest levels. All of these facts are good news for air travelers.
