These are the safest airlines for 2019

Qantas is the safest airline in the world for 2019, according to industry rankings.

The Australian flag carrier was awarded the top spot by Airlineratings.com, which looked at a range of factors when determining the safest airlines, including audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies, crash and serious incident records, and fleet age.

Airlines including British Airways, Emirates and Qatar were ranked among the world's 20 safest airlines, while Wizz and Flybe were ranked among the world's safest low-cost airlines.

But 98-year-old Qantas – the world’s oldest continuously operating carrier – was picked out in particular for amassing a comprehensive record of firsts in operations and safety.

According to Airlineratings.com, Qantas has been a leader in various fields, including the development of Future Air Navigation System, the flight data recorder to monitor plane and crew performance, and automatic landings using Global Navigation Satellite System, plus precision approaches around mountains in cloud using RNP. Qantas was also the leading airline when it came to real-time monitoring of engines across its fleet using satellite communications, enabling the airline to detect problems before they become safety issues.

“All airlines have incidents every day and many are aircraft manufacture issues, not airline operational problems,” said AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas. “It is the way the flight crew handles incidents that determines a good airline from an unsafe one.”

The rankings determine the 20 safest airlines that are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of new aircraft, all of which have secured a perfect rating of seven out of seven stars.

The 10 safest low-cost airlines are also listed – all have passed the stringent International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and have excellent safety records.

In addition, Airlineratings.com has highlighted the least safe airlines which achieved just one or two stars out of seven. They include Ariana Afghan Airlines and Suriname’s Blue Wing Airlines.

The world’s safest aircraft have also been revealed. The following nine commercial jets all have a fatality-free record: Boeing 717 (formerly the MD95), CRJ700/900/1000 regional jet, A380 superjumbo, Boeing 787, Boeing 747-8, Airbus A350, Bombardier C Series, A340 and the Airbus A320 NEO series.