2015 World's 60 Safest Airlines: EVA Air and China Airlines Both Make the List

▲ Aircraft of China Airlines and EVA Air (Photo / Reporter Huang Kexiang)

By Rita

2014 was a dark year for aviation, with the number of fatalities in air disasters nearly four times higher than in 2013. Unfortunately, more than half of these incidents occurred in the Asia-Atlantic region. Although flying remains the safest mode of travel, the aviation safety performance in 2014 was alarming.

Germany’s aviation safety data center JACDEC(Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre) released the 2015 list of the world’s 60 safest airlines on the 13th on its website. The data is based on records from the entire year of 2014. Among them, Taiwan’s EVA Air moved up two spots from last year to rank third globally with outstanding performance. China Airlines also secured the 59th spot, joining the ranks of the top safest airlines in the world.

JACDEC is a professional aviation safety data analysis organization that evaluates the safety performance of global airlines. The top three in 2015 were Cathay Pacific, Emirates, and EVA Air. Malaysia Airlines, affected by two major aviation accidents, dropped from 34th to 57th place. In Europe, KLM ranked fifth, followed closely by Air New Zealand and Qantas. Germany’s Lufthansa maintained its 12th position from last year, while Germany’s largest airline, Air Berlin, rose from 26th to 20th.

However, surprisingly, Finland’s Finnair, which ranked third in 2014, did not make the top 60 this time.

Here is the full list of the top 60:
1. Cathay Pacific Airways
2. Emirates
3. EVA Air
4. Air Canada
5. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
6. Air New Zealand
7. Qantas
8. Hainan Airlines
9. JetBlue Airways
10. Etihad Airways
11. All Nippon Airways
12. Lufthansa
13. TAP Portugal
14. British Airways
15. Virgin Australia
16. Virgin Atlantic Airways
17. Transaero Airlines
18. Shenzhen Airlines
19. WestJet
20. Air Berlin
21. Qatar Airways
22. EasyJet
23. Sichuan Airlines
24. Southwest Airlines
25. Jetstar Airways
26. Delta Air Lines
27. Thomson Airways
28. Norwegian Air Shuttle
29. Singapore Airlines
30. United Airlines
31. Swiss International Air Lines
32. Ryanair
33. China Eastern Airlines
34. Jet Airways
35. Aeroflot
36. LAN Airlines
37. Alitalia
38. Air France
39. American Airlines
40. Air China
41. Iberia
42. Alaska Airlines
43. US Airways
44. Japan Airlines
45. China Southern Airlines
46. Asiana Airlines
47. Thai Airways International
48. Scandinavian Airlines
49. Turkish Airlines
50. Korean Air
51. Copa Airlines
52. Saudia
53. Gol Transportes Aéreos
54. Xiamen Airlines
55. TAM Airlines
56. Garuda Indonesia
57. Malaysia Airlines
58. Air India
59. China Airlines
60. Lion Air