Any nervous flier who has shown anxiety over boarding a plane has no doubt had someone tell them that aviation is the safest form of transportation.
And while that is true, it is an abstract idea that offers little comfort during a bumpy flight or emergency landing. The proof—and reassurance—is in the numbers, and one of the top safety data points that fliers can understand at a glance is Airline Ratings’ annual list of the safest airlines in the world.
Every year, the safety experts at Airline Ratings examine 320 airlines around the globe to tabulate overall safety scores. The company uses data such as safety incident rates versus the airline’s total number of flights, fleet age, serious incidents, pilot training, and international safety audits to calculate every carriers’ ranking.
In 2026, the company found impressive results for more than two dozen carriers. “What stands out this year is how little separates the leaders,” Sharon Petersen, Airline Ratings’ CEO, said in a statement. The top 6 airlines were separated by a margin of just 1.3 points, according to Petersen, and positions 1 through 14 spanned a difference of less than four points.
That means that passengers should feel secure boarding any of the airlines on the list. Each carrier in the rankings had incident rates of 0.09 per flight or less. “All airlines in the Top 25 are world leaders in aviation safety, and claims that one is significantly safer or less safe than another are both sensationalist and false,” Petersen said.
New to the scoring in 2026 is a greater emphasis placed on turbulence prevention, as it is currently the leading cause of in-flight injuries, according to Petersen. To judge carriers’ turbulence prevention, Petersen’s team looked at whether airlines participate in a program from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that uses new software to help pilots avoid rough air or if they use a similar form of technology in the cockpit.
Here are the safest airlines to fly in 2026, based on Airline Ratings’ data.
The safest airline in the world
For the first time ever, Etihad has been named the world’s safest airline. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier has previously scored high marks on the annual safety ranking—coming in fifth place last year—but has never before taken the top spot.
There were several reasons that Etihad shot up to No. 1 this year, according to Petersen. The carrier operates a fleet of newer planes, and it also has a crash-free history. In 2026, it had the lowest incident rate of any of the 25 airlines on the list.
Additionally, Petersen said that Etihad made advancements in cockpit safety in 2025 to avoid turbulence. In April 2025, Etihad deployed IATA’s new technology across its entire fleet. The software collects turbulence data from surrounding flights in the area and helps pilots and flight dispatchers find the smoothest possible flight path.
“The airline also participated in our independent onboard safety audit and demonstrated excellent adherence to turbulence management in the cabin,” Petersen said. Etihad’s win also marks the first time a Gulf carrier has been named the safest airline in the world by Airline Ratings.
The top 25 safest airlines in the world
There were notable changes to the rest of the safety ranking this year as well. Two airlines made their first-ever debut on the list: Fiji Airways and Taiwan-based Starlux, which began operations in 2020. “While we generally would not include a relatively young airline such as STARLUX, their approach to safety and transparency is exceptional, and the fact other leading airlines talk about them really says it all,” Petersen said.
