Qantas and Virgin Australia lose altitude as world's safest airlines unveiled

A Gulf airline has been named the world's safest as Qantas, Virgin Australia and fellow Tasman carrier Air New Zealand lose ground in the new rankings.

Etihad has been crowned the top full-service airline for 2026 in an annual list compiled by airline safety and product rating website, AirlineRatings.com

Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific has taken second place, moving up the rankings from third place in 2025.

Australia's national airline, Qantas, dropped from second place in 2025 to third place in 2026.

Qatar, which was equal third with Cathay Pacific and Emirates in 2025, has dropped down to fourth place, while Emirates has dropped to fifth place.

Virgin Australia dropped from fourth place in 2025 to ninth in 2026.

The criteria for the world's safest airlines in 2026 considers incident rates adjusted for total flight numbers, serious incidents, fleet age, international safety audits and pilot training.

AirlineRatings.com CEO Sharon Petersen said this year's judging placed a greater emphasis on turbulence prevention, "as it remains the leading cause of in-flight injuries".

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She said Etihad achieved the number-one spot because it had "a young fleet, advancements in cockpit safety, particularly around turbulence, a crash-free history, and the lowest incident rate per flight of any airline on the list".

Taiwan's STARLUX, and Fiji Airways both joined the list for the first time this year.

Singapore Airlines, which was omitted from the top-25 in 2025 due to a serious turbulence incident in 2024, was reinstated this year.

Ms Petersen said the 2026 competition was particularly close and only 1.3 points separated positions one through to six on the list of the 25 safest airlines.

"We may be reaching a point where traditional rankings risk being misleading, and where grouping airlines into performance tiers provides a more accurate reflection of reality," Ms Petersen said.

She called each of the top 25 carriers "world leaders in aviation safety".

The organisation also rated the safest budget airlines.

HK Express took first place followed by Jetstar Airways, Scoot, flydubai (this will be considered among the full-service airlines next year) and EasyJet Group.

AirlineRatings.com assessed the safety performance of 320 carriers worldwide.

Airlines for Australia and New Zealand chair, Professor Graeme Samuel, said airlines from the Tasman region have a solid reputation for maintaining a "safety-first culture".

"The 2026 global airline safety rankings are a testament to the continued and unwavering commitment Australia and New Zealand's airlines have to delivering the highest standards of safety and operational excellence," Professor Samuel said.

"These results reinforce what we already know: Australia and New Zealand's airlines are truly world-class."