The top ten safest low-cost airlines has been revealed as part of a wider new study.
Aer Lingus, Flybe, Frontier, HK Express, Jetblue, Jetstar Australia, Thomas Cook, Virgin America, Vueling and Westjet are rated as the world’s safest budget carriers.
The list was created in response to public interest, according to safety and product rating website AirlineRatings.com.
The lowest ranked airlines identified by AirlineRatings.com are Air Koryo, Bluewing Airlines, Buddha Air, Nepal Airlines, Tara Air, Trigana Air Service and Yeti Airlines.
The top 20 safest airlines for 2018 from 409 it monitors was also revealed.
In alphabetical order, they are: Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Eva Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, SAS, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia.
Editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas said: “These airlines are standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety and innovation.
“For instance, Australia’s Qantas has been recognised by the British Advertising Standards Association in a test case in 2008 as the world’s most experienced airline.
“It is extraordinary that 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 have perfect records in the jet era.”
AirlineRatings.com takes into account numerous critical factors that include audits from aviation’s governing bodies and lead associations; government audits; airline’s crash and serious incident record and fleet age.