Air New Zealand named world’s safest airline, beating out Qantas two years in a row

For the second year in a row, Air New Zealand has been rated the safest airline in the world, beating out transtasman rivals, Qantas, for the top spot in 2025. The two airlines have gone toe-to-toe in the prestigious Airlineratings.com rankings, with just 1.50 points the difference between the two travel juggernauts. The Kiwi carrier also won the award in 2022, making it three top spots in the past four years after Qantas fended them off to win in 2023. In this year’s rankings, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Qatar Airways came third equal while Virgin Australia pipped Etihad Airways (fifth) for fourth spot. Airlineratings.com CEO Sharon Petersen explained why Air New Zealand were able to beat out Qantas by the barest of margins. “It was extremely close again between Air New Zealand and Qantas for first place with only 1.50 points separating the two airlines,” she said. “While both airlines uphold the highest safety standards and pilot training, Air New Zealand continue to have a younger fleet than Qantas, which separates the two.”<br/>