Regional airline. List of Russian airlines. Major Russian airlines: rating. List of the best charter airlines

What, first of all, does a passenger want to receive from an air carrier? This is comfort, reliability and safety. Also, he will not refuse an acceptable level of service and, of course, will not be against the punctuality of the company’s employees: it is unlikely that any of us will like long flight delays.

Based on these requests from airline customers, we have compiled a rating of the best Russian airlines, which is based on the expert assessment of several independent consulting agencies and the opinions of passengers who have already used the services of carriers.

TOP 10: Best airlines in Russia ranking for 2020

To make the rating more truthful and comprehensive, we used mixed statistics in the article. Firstly, this is a direct survey of clients, and secondly, an assessment by experts. Employees of some consulting agencies, under the guise of “secret passengers”, personal experience checked the level of service: the cost of tickets, the quality of food on board the plane, the general level of service and the time of delays during flights (if there were any). We summarized the total rating in the “Overall Rating” column of our table.

Place	Name	Overall rating	Positive customer recommendations
🏆 10	✈ Nordavia	⭐ 3.21 out of 5	👍 40 %
🏆 9	✈ Red Wings Airlines	⭐ 3.40 out of 5	👍 37 %
🏆 8	✈ Nordwind Airlines	⭐ 3.42 out of 5	👍 45 %
🏆 7	✈ Utair	⭐ 3.48 out of 5	👍 44 %
🏆 6	✈ Metrojet	⭐ 3.64 out of 5	👍 67 %
🏆 5	✈ Aeroflot	⭐ 3.79 out of 5	👍 55 %
🏆 4	✈ S7 Airlines	⭐ 3.84 out of 5	👍 58 %
🏆 3	✈ Russia	⭐ 3.86 out of 5	👍 62 %
🏆 2	✈ Yamal	⭐ 4.14 out of 5	👍 72 %
🏆 1	✈ I-Fly	⭐ 3.97 out of 5	👍 76 %

10th place. "Nordavia"

Regional carrier, with its main base in Arkhangelsk. Specializes in domestic transportation Russian Federation, but there are also foreign flights – to Norway. Due to weather conditions, in winter the number of flights is significantly less than in summer. The aircraft fleet is quite “old”; domestic aircraft are used to service close regional flights: AN-24

🛫 Where are the routes?

In 14 of the largest Russian regional centers, also in Troms (Norway).

Departure without delay: 2.63

Food quality: 3.16

On-board service level: 3.53

9th place. Red Wings Airlines

The company is one of the fifteen largest air carriers in Russia. It has been on the market for eighteen years, in 2009 it went through a rebranding, after which it is known under its current name. It is considered one of the main tourist charter carriers. Most of the aircraft fleet is domestic aircraft.

🛫 Where are the routes?

Overseas charter flights on the most popular tourist routes from Moscow, St. Petersburg and several more regional centers.

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Departure without delay: 3, 08

Food quality: 3.2

On-board service level: 3.5

8th place. Nordwind Airlines

Another charter passenger carrier offering charter flights to Europe, in Mediterranean countries, as well as to Asian countries. The aircraft fleet is based in Moscow and consists of 24 Airbus aircraft, Boeing. It is actively updating and purchasing new aircraft, some of which were purchased this year.

🛫 Where are the routes?

Along tourist routes from Moscow: Europe, India, Thailand, countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt.

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Departure without delay: 3.46

Food quality: 2.97

On-board service level: 3.65

7th place. "Utair"

A company with partial foreign capital, specializing in air and helicopter transportation. The main home ports are in Tyumen and Moscow. It operates not only charter flights, but also regular flights: every day the company’s aircraft make about three hundred flights. Over the past two years, its aircraft have carried more than 17 million passengers.

🛫 Where are the routes?

Domestic regional flights, foreign flights on tourist routes to the countries of Europe, Africa, Asia.

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Departure without delay: 3.32

Food quality: 3.18

On-board service level: 3.83

6th place. "Metrojet"

The main activity of the air carrier is charter flights on most tourist routes countries of Europe. Since 2012, he has been working closely with a large German travel company Therefore, some of the airliner flights are carried out under the TUI brand.

🛫 Where are the routes?

EU countries (Spain, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria), also to Egypt and Turkey.

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Departure without delay: 3.88

Food quality: 3.69

On-board service level: 4.07

5th place. Aeroflot

The largest air carrier in Russia. The fleet consists of almost 200 aircraft, which includes aircraft of both domestic and foreign production. It is updated regularly and the average age of aircraft is 4.3 years. Routes are laid to 51 countries of the world. The attitude of clients is quite negative, although, according to many consulting companies, the level of service is acceptable.

🛫 Where are the routes?

Internal regional routes to all regional centers, all European countries, most Asian countries, some countries in Africa and America.

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Four stars is a very good indicator

Departure without delay: 3.72

Food quality: 3.83

On-board service level: 3.89

The SKYTRAX rating is an objective assessment of airline services from a private, independent British company. Five-point rating - from one to five stars. Among hundreds of global companies, only a few have currently received 5 stars.

4th place. "S7 Airlines"

The former name of the company is Siberia, and is engaged in regular and charter transportation within Russia; its aircraft also carry out regular international flights: routes are laid to 26 countries around the world. Over the past few years, it has carried more than 10 million passengers annually. The fleet consists of 70 aircraft, the average age of the aircraft is 10 years.

🛫 Where are the routes?

European countries, neighboring countries, Egypt, Türkiye, Asian countries (China, Japan, South Korea)

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Departure without delay: 3.89

Food quality: 3.64

On-board service level: 3.92

3rd place. "Russia"

A subsidiary of Aeroflot, based in St. Petersburg, from where it operates most of carrier aircraft departures. Carries about 5 million passengers annually. Organized domestic flights throughout the country, there are also regular flights to European countries. The fleet consists of 62 aircraft, the average age is 13 years.

🛫 Where are the routes?

European countries (France, Germany), domestic flights to most regional centers of the country.

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Departure without delay: 4.02

Food quality: 3.46

On-board service level: 4.01

2nd place. "Yamal"

West Siberian air carrier with a fairly large fleet of 60 aircraft. The main place of registration is Salekhard, the average age of the aircraft is 11 years. Operates on 42 routes, most of which are domestic. It also operates charter flights to European and Mediterranean countries.

🛫 Where are the routes?

Regional centers of Russia, neighboring countries, Europe, UAE, Bangkok.

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Departure without delay: 3.88

Food quality: 4.02

On-board service level: 4.16

1 place. "I-Fly"

The best charter carrier today according to passengers and experts. The aircraft fleet's home port is Moscow. The main field of activity is charter transportation on foreign tourist routes. Cooperates with the travel company “TEZ-Tour”.

🛫 Where are the routes?

Mediterranean countries, Spain, UAE, Asian countries (China, Thailand)

✅ Assessment issued by the SKYTRAX agency

Departure without delay: 4.19

Food quality: 3.81

On-board service level: 4.06

Which airline is best to use?

The final choice depends on your preferences. For example, if safety is your primary concern, then try to choose companies that use new airliners. Conditionally, any aircraft with an age of up to 12 years can be considered such (after this period they must undergo mandatory overhaul). Also, do not forget that the smaller the company, the smaller its financial turnover, therefore, they spend less money on aircraft maintenance. Additionally, before making your final choice, do not be lazy and look at the statistics of accidents and incidents for the airline: this data can be found on many publicly available Internet resources.

Air travel has become an integral part of everyday life for many. Business trips to different parts of the country and abroad are always associated with the purchase of air tickets, during which everyone tries not only to find a favorable price offer, but also to fly with a reliable air carrier.

Especially for you, we have compiled a list of Russian airlines in 2020, ranking them according to the degree of reliability and accident-free operation in accordance with research by the German agency Jacdec, the European organization EASA and the international organizations IOSA and ICAO.

When calculating the aviation safety index, data on disasters over the past 30 years are taken into account, as well as passenger traffic, the number of victims and lost airliners.

When compiling the list, we also took into account the level of service on board and the average age of aircraft of Russian airlines. Rating statistics on the number of aircraft and their average age were compiled based on data as of March 2016.

Rating of Russian airlines in terms of flight reliability and safety 2020

Aeroflot
Russia
Ural Airlines
UTair
Orenburg Airlines
Red Wings

Aeroflot

The first place in the ranking in all respects is rightfully occupied by the largest air carrier in the Russian Federation, Aeroflot, which has the largest fleet in Europe. This is the only domestic company that appears in the prestigious Jacdec rating - which means it is considered by foreign experts to be more reliable than others in Russia. In addition, Aeroflot has repeatedly received the honorary title of the best airline in Eastern Europe.

The advantages of the company are different models aircraft for every taste, well-trained staff, thoughtful bonus programs and our own Situation Center, created to quickly resolve problem situations. Aeroflot includes the airlines Rossiya, Transaero, and Pobeda.

Year of foundation: 1923.
Aircraft in the fleet: 170 units.
Average age of airliners: 4.5 years.

Before rebranding, the company bore the name “Sibir”. If we consider reliability, then S7 is one of the three recognized leaders in this indicator. In 2015, this famous air carrier received an award from National Geographic as the best Russian airline, and S7 ranks 95th in the world ranking.

A significant advantage of the company is the profitable bonus program, thanks to which regular passengers can accumulate bonuses and subsequently use them to pay part of the cost of tickets. A special feature of S7 is convenient direct flights to Asia.

Year of foundation: 1957.
Aircraft in the fleet: 58 units.
Average age of airliners: 10 years.

In 2015, Rossiya Airlines entered the TOP 10 air carriers in our country in terms of flight safety indicators. In 2014, Rossiya was recognized as the best in the field of regional routes, and in 2014 it became fifth in the list of the largest domestic airlines. In terms of punctuality, Rossiya was included in the ranking of top European companies.

The main advantage of the Rossiya company is its democratic price policy and impeccable cleanliness on board the aircraft. Passengers are dissatisfied only with airliners, the age of which in most cases exceeds 10 years.

Year of foundation: 1992.
Aircraft in the fleet: 23 units.
Average age of airliners: 13.6 years.

Ural Airlines

The aircraft of one of the largest domestic air transportation companies were recognized as the most reliable in 2014, and the air carrier itself received three awards, including as the best on domestic routes.

If we consider the volume of passenger traffic in Russia, Ural Airlines takes an honorable third place. A distinctive feature of the airline is the presence of a special gym for pilots, analogues of which are only available abroad.

Year of foundation: 1993.
Aircraft in the fleet: 35 units.
Average age of airliners: 12.7 years.

This company is among the TOP 5 in Russia in terms of passenger traffic. In 2014, UTair received a prestigious award as the best passenger carrier on regional routes.

Year of foundation: 1991.
Aircraft in the fleet: 66 units.
Average age of airliners: 14.5 years.

The main area of presence of this air carrier is the Tyumen region and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The fact that the aircraft used by the company are recognized as safe and reliable is reflected in the certificate of the International Association air transport, which Yamal received in 2013. A year after that, the carrier was recognized as the best airline in the field of passenger transportation and the best helicopter operator.

The advantages of the Yamal company are flights to hard-to-reach settlements and regular expansion of the route network. Passengers are dissatisfied with the lack of punctuality of pilots.

Year of foundation: 1997.
Aircraft in the fleet: 24 units.
Average age of airliners: 14.1 years.

Orenburg Airlines

This air carrier is a subsidiary of the Russian Aeroflot. In 2013, Orenburg Airlines received national recognition, receiving the Airline of the Year award according to passengers.

Year of foundation: 1992.
Aircraft in the fleet: 19 units.
Average age of airliners: 11 years.

The only aviation company in the Russian Federation that operates domestic airliners Tu-204 and Sukhoi Superjet 100.

Year of foundation: 1999.
Aircraft in the fleet: 13 units.
Average age of airliners: 6.6 years.

So now you know best airlines Russia 2020, included in our list due to the excellent level of service, impressive volume of passenger air transportation, a large number safe, technically sound modern aircraft, punctuality and favorable price offers. When looking for a reliable air carrier, try to choose from these companies to be sure of the safety and comfort of your upcoming flight.

In connection with the increasing reports of plane crashes, especially low-cost airlines, many have become seriously concerned about flight safety issues. Air transport is generally considered one of the safest modes of travel. To dispel fears and speculation, you can trust trusted carriers. The most reliable airlines in the world are included in the corresponding ratings.

The issue of safe flights is carefully studied not only by ordinary passengers, but also by major statistical agencies. The most authoritative ratings of airline reliability are those of the German company Jacdec and the European Aviation Safety Agency, which publish lists of safe carriers based on research data. When calculating the coefficients, parameters over the past thirty years are taken into account. Other major international aviation organizations also conduct safety audits.

The calculation is made taking into account various indices with different specific weights. Thus, a recent accident will carry more weight than a disaster that occurred many years ago. When calculating, the following parameters are taken into account:

Total number of passengers served.
The total number of victims of disasters.
Number of ships destroyed or lost.
Number of breakdowns and emergency landings, leaving the runway, etc.
Rating of the state that owns the company: thoroughness and transparency of incident investigations.

The longer an airline operates without incident, the higher its position in the ranking. The safety index obtained as a result of calculations should be as small as possible, which will indicate the reliability of the company. Carriers with a high index are, accordingly, less safe.

The safest airlines in the world

Cathay Pacific Airways took first place according to the results of various agencies for the second year in a row.

Over the course of many years of its operation, the company from Hong Kong has occupied a leading position in the list of reliable carriers. In 30 years, the only incidents were a hard landing of a ship at the airport and two terrorist attacks on airplanes. The airline safety index is 0.006.

The second position is occupied by Emirates with a safety index of 0.007. Over the years of activity, only two incidents have been associated with this company in which no passengers were injured. The airlines cooperate with S7 and operate regular and charter flights from many Russian cities.

In third place is Eva Air, located in Taiwan. There were no serious incidents in her operation, with the exception of a runway overrun, a false report of a mine-laden vessel, and an emergency landing due to the poor health of one of the passengers. The Eva Air safety index is 0.008. This airline does not operate within Russia.

Safe airlines in Russia

Not all internationally recognized airlines operate in Russia. This, however, does not mean that there are no carriers in our country whose reliability you should not fear. A number of Russian enterprises have a safety index that does not exceed acceptable standards. Let's consider which airline in Russia is the most reliable.

In addition to the above parameters, the calculations take into account the punctuality of the carrier, the age and general technical condition of the vessels and their compliance with international documentation and standards. Let's list and consider the most reliable airlines in Russia.

According to EASA ratings, the leader of Russian air transportation in 2017 was Ural Airlines. Its rating is 0.24 points. The company is characterized by high reliability: over a period of 14 years, it has not had a single incident where there were casualties.

The second place today is occupied by S7 Airlines, formerly known as Siberia. Despite the fleet of aircraft, which can be up to 20 years old, their technical condition does not cause concern to international commissions. The company fell on hard times in the early 2000s, with crashes killing about 300 passengers. Today, the flights of this carrier are distinguished by their reliability and quality.

Aeroflot takes different positions depending on different data. In 2016, it was characterized by a safety index of 0.108 points and was among the top 60 reliable global carriers, securing 36th place. This is a high figure, exceeding the parameters of many large foreign companies.

According to 2017 data, in Russia it is in third place and receives 0.38 points. The assessment was largely influenced by disasters that occurred back in the 1990s. Now the company is steadily renewing its fleet of aircraft and is characterized by reliability and high quality of services.

Transaero was also previously included in the list of the top 60 companies in the world, ranking 17th with a rating of 0.024. As of today, the airlines have ceased operations.

Khanty-Mansiysk carrier Utair today is a large popular company whose fleet of aircraft consists of young equipment. It specializes in short regional flights. The latest major airline incident was the crash of a cargo helicopter.

Alternative safety ratings

In addition to the generally accepted safety index scoring systems, there are other classifications of companies that are provided by some agencies. Thus, British researchers study companies based on their punctuality, where one of the lines was taken by the Russian S7 Airlines.

Skytrax has created a product called Quality Rating. The service is based on monthly calculations of company performance indicators and is constantly updated depending on the data received. The creators of the service emphasize that their calculations are not based on data on disasters, since such incidents may not be the fault of the airlines.

Careful analysis here includes the parameters of staff compliance with safety standards and the availability of preparatory courses in case of an unforeseen situation. Agency experts visit companies to identify and compile a rating. In this case, carriers are assigned not marks or indices, but stars.

Seven companies were awarded five stars, including two companies included in the Jacdac and EASA ratings. These are Cathay Pacific Airways and Qatar Airways.

The list also includes Russian airlines.Thus, S7 Airlines and Aeroflot received three stars in the rating, and the Rossiya company received two stars.

Probability and causes of disasters

The disaster of the FlyDubai ship in Russia caused quite a stir. After the incident, a number of sources claimed that the crash was caused by neglect of flight safety measures. These data have not been confirmed, but the questions for low-cost airlines have not decreased.

It is worth noting that rumors about the incompetence of low-cost airline pilots and outdated equipment are completely false. The personnel and equipment of such companies meet all international requirements, and the difference between such flights and standard ones lies in the price and service.

Many Russians today prefer to travel by plane. Of course, tickets for this type of transport are more expensive than, for example, for the same trains, but you can also get to your destination by air much faster. However, of course, people who fly do not least think about their safety. The list of Russian airlines today is quite wide, and most of them, fortunately, are considered reliable in this regard.

A little history

Many people remember that during the Soviet era, only one company transported passengers by air - Aeroflot. It was founded in 1921. Initially it was given the name “Deruluft”. In 1923 the company was renamed Dobrolet. The name "Aeroflot" was assigned to the civil air fleet of the RSFSR in 1932.

New companies

Unfortunately, in the 90s of the last century, the only Russian airline ceased to exist, breaking up into several small ones. Today, Aeroflot Corporation aircraft are again plying the airspace of Russia and other countries of the world. However, by now this is far from the only carrier in our country. includes both giants that can compete with Aeroflot, and small charter firms.

Criteria for selecting carrier security

Accidents do not occur often, but usually end in a great tragedy with many casualties. Therefore, of course, you should approach the choice of airline with all responsibility. Before purchasing a ticket for any flight, you should make sure that the carrier is able to ensure flight safety. This can be done very simply.

Since 1999, by order of the Russian Federal Aviation Service, our country has had a program for monitoring the safety of civil transportation. Within its framework, every vessel flying in Russian airspace, whether foreign or domestic, can be checked for compliance with safety standards at any airport in the country. Based on the inspections carried out, a safety rating of carrier companies is compiled. After reading it, you can decide, among other things, whether it is worth using the services of a particular company.

The largest Russian carriers

What giants does the list of Russian airlines include? The rating of safe carriers will be presented to the reader below. The list of the largest domestic airlines by number of passengers carried and size is as follows:

Aeroflot. This carrier, although no longer the only one, currently tops the list of Russian airlines with the largest fleet. Last on this moment consists of 106 modern machines. this company is owned by the state.

S7-Airlines (“Siberia”). This company is currently the leader in domestic Russian transportation. This carrier has 42 aircraft in its fleet. The company operates flights on 80 routes, only 26 of which are foreign.

"Russia". This company is also state owned. Most of its flights are to countries former CIS and on Far East. However they fly aircraft company "Russia" and in European countries. This carrier's fleet includes 30 aircraft.

Utair. This company also owns 30 machines. Its main feature is considered to be the presence of a helicopter fleet. This carrier occupies both 4th and 5th places in the ranking.

This list can also be supplemented by the carrier OrenAir (Orenburg and Orsk). This company deals mainly with charter flights. Its fleet includes 29 aircraft.

Rating of the safest airlines in Russia

Below, in descending order, we present to you a list of Russian airlines considered (according to the 2015 rating of the Federal Air Transport Agency) the safest:

"Ural Airlines". Although this company was not included in the list of the 7 largest, today it tops the ranking of the safest. During the entire existence of this carrier, only 3 incidents with aircraft occurred. Moreover, they all did without casualties.

S7 Airlines. Since its opening, this carrier has had 3 major accidents. In 2001, a Tu-154 aircraft of the Sibir company was shot down by Ukrainians over the Black Sea. In this case, 178 people died. Another accident occurred with a Tu-154 of the S7 Airlines brand (51 people). The next crash killed 125 passengers (A310). To date, this carrier is considered one of the most reliable in terms of safety in Europe.

Aeroflot. This company has four disasters to its name. The most famous one happened in 1994. The pilot put his 15-year-old son at the controls. Unknowingly, the teenager pressed one of the levers, as a result of which the autopilot was turned off. It was not possible to level the plane, and it went into a dive. 75 people died in this accident.

The list of Russian airlines in terms of safety can, of course, be continued. In principle, monitoring compliance with regulations by legal entities engaged in by air transportation, today is being carried out quite seriously. However, the companies listed above are currently considered the best in terms of security.

Rating of companies with the oldest aircraft

The average age of the aircraft fleet in the Russian Federation in 2016 is 12 years. The list of Russian airlines with the oldest aircraft looks like this:

"Kagalymavia" - 17.1 years.

« North wind" - 14 years old.

"Nord-Avia" - 14.

"Yamal" - 13.7 years.

Ural Airlines - 12.3 years.

"UTair" - 11.7.

Orenburg Airlines - 10.8.

"Siberia" - 9.6.

Red Wings - 6.6.

Aeroflot - 4.4.

Are any companies banned from flying to Europe?

Some passengers would probably like to know whether there are Russian air carriers that are not allowed to fly to EU countries. After all, these states have certain safety standards and have specific requirements for the technical condition of aircraft. At the same time, “black lists” of companies that are prohibited from flying in European airspace are regularly compiled.

At the beginning of the new millennium, some Russian carriers actually had to abandon flights to Europe. The list of banned Russian airlines included such a giant as Ural Airlines (partially). Flights of old planes of Kuban Airlines, Airlines 400 and some others were also banned. However, these were not sanctions from the European Union. The ban came from Rostransnadzor and Rosaviatsia. Currently, ships of all Russian companies can make voyages to Europe.

The ever-increasing level of aviation safety brings benefits to the aviation industry every year. Back in the period from 1982 to 1991, according to the report of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), the flight safety index Soviet Union was 0.08. In the CIS countries it reached 0.1 and a little better in the USA – 0.02. The indicator was taken as the ratio of the number of accidents per 100 thousand flight hours.

Careful analysis of the causes of tragedies and flight safety management have brought air travel to a level of passenger confidence. Figures published by IATA in 2014 showed that there was 1 accident per 4.4 million flights.

According to World Fund, from January 2019 to December 2020, more than 20 air accidents were recorded, resulting in more than 700 deaths. It is indicated that only civil aircraft with a capacity of more than 14 seats.

To keep passengers up to date with air travel events, ICAO introduced its project - the Electronic Library of Final Reports. The portal was developed for the purpose of conducting safety lessons. Using it, you can search by incident dates and view the commission's report.

Over the entire history of air travel, only two airlines can boast of a zero percentage of accidents over the past 50 years. This is the Australian company Quantas - operating since 1922, and the Finnish Finnair - since 1923. According to JACDEC, a total of 22 global airlines are registered and have not experienced any serious disasters during their existence.

Every year, the German company JACDEC publishes its own airline safety rating. Its results come from a thorough analysis of accidents on board aircraft. The measure by which the rating is built is the flight safety index. New airlines are assigned a default value of 0. An index of 0.001 is considered a good number without fatalities.

It is important to note that the JACDEC accident database is limited to 30 years. Incidents that occurred during exercises, cargo transportation, or testing are not taken into account. Only flights with passengers on board are taken into account. 60 people take part in the safety analysis largest companies peace.

So, we present the 20 airline leaders in flight safety for 2019-2020.

Place in the list	Airline	A country	Safety index
1	Cathay Pacific Airway	China, Hong Kong	0,006
2	Emirates	UAE	0,007
3	Eva Air	Taiwan	0,008
4	Qatar Airways	Qatar	0,009
5	Hainan Airlines	China	0,01
6	KLM	Netherlands	0,01
7	Air New Zealand	New Zealand	0,011
8	Etihad Airways	UAE	0,013
9	Japan Airlines	Japan	0,015
10	TAP Portugal	Portugal	0,015
11	JetBlue Airways	USA	0,016
12	Lufthansa	Germany	0,016
13	Qantas	Australia	0,016
14	Virgin Atlantic Airways	Great Britain	0,017
15	All Nippon Airways	Japan	0,018
16	Air Canada	Canada	0,018
17	Delta Air Lines	USA	0,018
18	British Airways	Great Britain	0,024
19	Sichuan Airlines	China	0,025
20	Air Berlin	Germany	0,025

In 2019, the Australian Qantas did not enter the top ten, and ended up in 13th position. And the Japanese company Japan Airlines improved its results from last year and rose from 44th place to 9th.

Russian airlines are again not included in the top 20 for safety. Aeroflot-Russian moved up only one position (35th place). And Transaero Airlines did not participate in the JACDEC analysis at all.

An expert view from Switzerland

According to experts from the Swiss agency ATRA, rely on historical summary aircraft accident rate is not entirely true. In fact, any air transport is subject to external factors and it happens that the chances of survival of passengers largely depend on the qualifications of the pilot. Therefore, one of the criteria for calculating the safety factor of the ATRA rating is the level of training of pilots and controllers.

After a lengthy analysis of air incidents and accidents, ATRA has identified 15 main flight safety criteria:

Financial position of the company;
Passenger seat occupancy rate;
Number of employees on board and pilots;
The total number of kilometers traveled by the aircraft;
Number of vessels in operation and out of production;
Average age of operational aircraft;
Component air park(Airbus or Boeing);
Number of aircraft at risk;
Number of accidents over the past 10 years.

Calculation data is based on information International Association air transport (IATA) and aerospace magazine Flight Global.

For its consideration, ATRA selected 94 of the largest airlines by financial income. Of these, the first in the rating and the most reliable were Asian Air China, China Southern Airlines Group, American - AMR Corporation, Delta Air Line, Southwest Airlines, United Continental Holdings, US Airways Group, European - Air France KLM Group and International Airlines Group (2014 statistics).

European SAFA program

In 2004, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) introduced its criterion for assessing reliability - the SAFA coefficient. Unlike replicated public ratings, SAFA is currently considered the most reliable indicator of reliability. It was recognized by all world aviation experts. SAFA is a kind of final assessment of the International Operational Safety Audit (IOSA)

It is worth noting that in order to obtain an IOSA certificate, a company must pass a test of more than 1000 points of flight safety requirements.

The essence of assigning a coefficient is a random check of foreign aircraft landing in the EU by inspectors of the European Commission. It is impossible to predict when the inspection will take place. The aircraft undergoes a thorough 54-point inspection for technical condition, age of the aircraft and documentation. The SAFA coefficient is derived from the ship's shortcomings.

Subsequently, if the inspected aircraft of one airline accumulate a certain number of penalty points, then the company itself is included in the EU blacklist. In this way, flight safety over EU territory is continuously managed and improved.

Unfortunately, SAFA experts keep their conclusions private. One thing is known: the higher the company’s coefficient, the lower its reliability. The critical threshold is considered to be a coefficient of 1.95. Airlines that have received this mark enter the red zone and come under close and regular monitoring by the European Commission.

Russian companies that have been audited following EASA certification have provided their safety ratings.

Flight safety. Documentary

Aircraft from Ural Airlines, Siberia Airlines, and Aeroflot received values below 0.4.

0.4-0.5 – UTair, Globus;
0.5-0.8 – Yamal, Red Wings, Orenburg Airlines, Aeroflot-Nord, North Wind;
0.8 – 0.9 – “Donavia”, “GTK Russia”;
1.08 – “Transaero”;
1.25 – “Sky Express”.

The companies Vladivostok-Avia, Bashkortostan, and Dagestan Airlines have approached the threshold of the “red zone”.

TOP budget flight safety companies from the aviation portal Airline Ratings

The portal is assessed using a seven-star system. Each star is assigned for certain indicators, such as the number and nature of incidents, the quality of staff and service.

449 airlines take part in the rating. Once the stars are assigned, Airline Ratings ranks the best and worst carriers. The resulting list of the safest companies in the world is not much different from the opinion of the German JACDEC and other experts.

But the top budget companies (low-cost airlines) will definitely please future passengers. So, we present to you the winners of the nomination:

The top unsafe carriers in 2020 included companies from Indonesia, Nepal and Suriname. They received 1 or 0 stars: