New Year's resolution: lose the fear of flying
Air travel is relatively safe, and 2017 was the safest year in aviation history. Yet despite this, many travelers are still uncomfortable with the experience: they are terrified of taking off, landing and even just being 10,000 meters above the ground.
Is there anything that can help calm the panic? Knowing that the airline you're flying with has an incredible safety record.
** AirlineRatings.com **, is a safety and product rating website, which has just announced its annual list of the 20 safest airlines in the world (and the ten safest low-cost airlines), after evaluating 409 operators and their incident reports, operating history, fleet age and inspection reports from aviation governing bodies like the American Federal Aviation Administration.
**Qantas (Australia)** had held the top spot for four years in a row, but this year, AirlineRatings.com decided to honor the top 20 airlines equally. Everyone gets a prize!
The safest airlines They are: 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 and Virgin Australia. Notable absences? Delta and United, who dropped out of this year's list.
In its evaluation of low-cost airlines, AirlineRatings.com found that Aer Lingus, Flybe, Frontier, HK Express, JetBlue, Jetstar Australia, Thomas Cook, Virgin America, Vueling, and Westjet were the ten safest (in no particular order ) .
Unlike many low-cost airlines, which have been banned from operating in the European Union, they have excellent safety records and have all passed the strict Operational Safety Audit of the International Air Transport Association (IOSA). They are judged on 1,000 points.
While the safest airlines are rated seven stars, the lowest ranked airlines are only one star, so you may want to think twice before traveling with North Korea's Air Koryo, Suriname's Blue Wing Airlines, Indonesia's Trigana Air Service and Nepal's Buddha Air. Nepal Airlines, Tara Air and Yeti Airlines.
New Year's resolution: lose the fear of flying
*** Courtesy of Condé Nast Traveler USA **