Student Travels:The world's safest (and least safe) airlines for 2018!

Question

Revealed: The world's safest (and least safe) airlines for 2018!

We have some tremendous diversity at the GMAT-club as most of the users here are internationals coming from different parts of the world. This post is for all soon-to-be-students who will heading the US/UK/Europe etc. to matriculate this fall. Lets talk about airlines as airfare is a major student expense. While travelling, we are often inclined to selecting the airlines which offers us the most $$$ discounts. But do you know there are certain airlines that are banned from the airspace of certain regions. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are among the 20 safest airlines on Earth, according to an annual ranking of the world’s biggest carriers.

The website AirlineRatings.com assessed 409 major airlines before delivering its verdict, taking into account previous incidents, the average age of their fleets, and audits from governments and the aviation industry’s regulatory bodies. For the last four years it has singled out Qantas as the world’s safest airline, ahead of a chasing pack of 19 rivals, but this year it listed the Australian flag carrier alongside the rest of the top 20.

BA and Virgin are the only UK airlines at the top table; others include Singapore Airlines, recently voted the world’s best long-haul airline by Telegraph Travel readers, Swiss, your favourite short-haul airline, as well as Air New Zealand, Emirates, Etihad, KLM and Lufthansa.

Just two US airlines were included in the top 20. Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian remain, but Delta and United, both of which appeared last year, have been dropped in favour of Emirates and Royal Jordanian.

https://www.airlineratings.com/wp-content/uploads/uploads/DF-JALBOOM_ScottMarshall-AWST_BoomTechnologies.jpg

The 20 safest airlines (in alphabetical order)

Air New Zealand 
  Alaska Airlines 
  All Nippon Airways 
  British Airways 
  Cathay Pacific Airways 
  Emirates 
  Etihad Airways 
  EVA Air 
  Finnair 
  Hawaiian Airlines 
  Japan Airlines 
  KLM 
  Lufthansa 
  Qantas 
  Royal Jordanian Airlines 
  Scandinavian Airline System 
  Singapore Airlines 
  Swiss 
  Virgin Atlantic 
  Virgin Australia   
They(AirlineRatings.com) further added - “Our top 20 safest airlines are always at the forefront of safety innovation, operational excellence and the launching of new more advanced aircraft like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787,” said Geoffrey Thomas, AirlineRatings.com’s Editor-in-Chief. “Qantas has been the lead airline in virtually every major operational safety advancement over the past 60 years and has not had a fatality in the jet era. But Qantas is not alone. Long established airlines such as Hawaiian and Finnair also have perfect records in the jet era.”

https://www.verdict.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/og-image.png

The website also identified what it claims are the 10 safest low-cost airlines. Aer Lingus, Flybe and Thomas Cook made the cut, but there was no room for the likes of Ryanair and easyJet. “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,” Thomas explained.

AirlineRatings.com isn't the only organisation to rate carriers according to safety. Germany's Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC) does likewise, and it is Cathay Pacific that currently takes the crown, ahead of Air New Zealand, Hainan Airlines, Qatar Airways and KLM. Virgin takes the 14th spot, British Airways 19th, easyJet 28th and Ryanair 34th.

Which are the world’s least safe airlines?

AirlineRatings.com also announced its lowest ranked airlines for 2018. Air Koryo, North Korea’s flag carrier, Bluewing Airlines, based in Suriname, Indonesia’s Trigana Air Service, and four Nepalese carriers - Buddha Air, Nepal Airlines, Tara Air, and Yeti Airlines - were all awarded just a single star.
There are currently more than 100 airlines - most of which you probably haven't heard of - banned from EU airspace, or facing operational restrictions, as they don't meet European safety standards. They include every airline from Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Sudan, as well as dozens from Indonesia.

At a glance | Airlines banned from the EU 
All airlines from the following countries
  
 Afghanistan 
 Angola (with the exception of TAAG Angola Airlines, which operates under restrictions and conditions) 
 Democratic Republic of the Congo 
 Djibouti 
 Equatorial Guinea 
 Eritrea 
 Gabon (with the exception of Afrijet and SN2AG, which operate under restrictions and conditions) 
 Kyrgyzstan 
 Liberia 
 Libya 
 Nepal 
 Republic of the Congo 
 São Tomé and Príncipe 
 Sierra Leone 
 Sudan

As well as the following individual airlines
 
 Blue Wing Airlines, Suriname 
 Iran Aseman Airlines, Iran 
 Iraqi Airways, Iraq 
 Med-View Airline, Nigeria 
 Air Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe 
 Avior Airlines, Venezuela 
 Which airlines have operational restrictions? 
 TAAG Angola Airlines, Angola 
 Comores Air Services, Comoros 
 Afrijet Business Service, Gabon 
 SN2AG, Gabon 
 Iran Air, Iran 
 Air Koryo, North Korea

Sources and credits- Telegraph UK, Air-quality control and AirlineRatings.com

bb · Answer

That's great to see Alaska as #1. Alaska is a great airline with a hub in Seattle. I am surprised Southwest did not make the top 20 list.

Student Travels:The world's safest (and least safe) airlines for 2018!

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards