The safest airlines 2022
Since 2013, the Hamburg flight accident agency JACDEC, in cooperation with "Aero International", has published a ranking of the safest major airlines every year.
Etihad Airways is the safest airline of the past year according to the latest study by the Hamburg aviation accident agency “Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre” (JACDEC) for the aviation magazine “Aero International”.
The globally respected institution with a global database works together with the leading aviation authorities to create the ranking. The study covers the world’s 100 lines with the greatest volume of traffic. TRAVELBOOK has an overview of the ranking of the safest airlines in 2022.
The aviation magazine “Aero International” writes in its publication: “The high level of safety in global air traffic must also be seen against the background of a ‘restart’ of the industry after the pandemic-related slump. Although it caused chaos at some airports and with a number of airlines, it had no impact on security.”
In 2022, according to JACDEC counts, 233 people died in 19 fatal aviation accidents worldwide. The accident that resulted in the highest number of fatalities was the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 crash on March 21, 2022. On that day, 132 people lost their lives. In Germany there were no fatal accidents in commercial civil aviation in 2022.
Lufthansa improves by 3 places
The airline Etihad, based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, is at the top of this year’s ranking with a risk index of 95.28 percent. In second place is the airline Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, third place goes to the Dutch airline KLM and fourth place to the airline JetBlue from the USA. The low-cost airline Easyjet from Great Britain made it to 5th place
The airlines from German-speaking countries did not make it into the top ten. Lufthansa was the first German airline to land in 14th place this year with a risk index of 87.89 percent and thus moved up three places. That’s at least better than last year, when the airline only managed 17th place. Compared to other German airlines, Lufthansa is behind Eurowings, which made it to 9th place, and Condor, which occupies 12th place. Swiss Airlines is again behind Lufthansa in 18th place and Austrian Airlines in 19th place.
The safest airlines in Europe are Finnair, KLM and Transavia. In America, the airlines JetBlue (USA) and WestJet (Canada) are at the top, followed by Delta Airlines. Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines hold the top three spots in the Asia, Africa and Middle East regions.
The 5 safest airlines worldwide in 2022
Etihad (United Arab Emirates)
Emirates (United Arab Emirates)
KLM (Netherlands)
JetBlue (US)
Easyjet (UK)
The evaluation criteria
The results of the JACDEC evaluation are presented as a percentage. The values are based on the (only theoretically achievable) maximum value of 100 percent downwards. The rating is based on the airline’s accident history over the past 30 years, the country-specific environment in which it operates, and the airline’s specific risk factors.
“Only the largest airlines are listed in the respective rankings. They are measured in terms of Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK), i.e. the number of kilometers flown commercially,” writes the aviation magazine Aero International.
In their assessment, the Hamburg accident investigators measure, among other things, traffic performance and incidents. Only deaths of inmates were counted and not possible casualties on the ground. In addition to total aircraft losses (with and without fatalities), serious incidents are also recorded. It does not necessarily have to be an accident in the classic sense, it can also be a near-collision or risky situation. The longer ago an accident occurred, the weaker its effect on the JACDEC safety index. Shifts in the list do not mean that the companies concerned are no longer safe.
The full analysis appears in the February issue of Aero International, available from January 12 on the website and in newsagents.
