Sky high peace of mind…

When does a holiday truly start for you? Is it the moment you fill in the sarcastically-toned out-of-office reply? Is it the packing, straining at the elbow “does this bag feel heavy to you” stage? The clock-watching, toe-tapping, “ooh Burj Khalifa” taxi ride to the airport? For many the holiday only starts to feel real, when they’re at the airport, bleary-eyed and storming towards the check-in desk, mentally rehearsing the ‘any chance of a free upgrade?’ speech.

Whenever the precise moment that slipping into ‘on vacay’ mode actually occurs, it’s probably fair to conclude that the travel experience to a destination is an essential component of that overall holiday feeling. And although we often take it for granted living in the UAE, within that experience, a feeling of safety and security is subconsciously crucial to the event’s perceived positivity.

Your exits are here, here and here

As referenced above, the UAE is by all objective measures – one of the safest countries on the planet, so it’s an unsurprising, though welcome, fact that its supremacy on the streets continues into the skies. A recent series of rankings by AirlineRatings.com – “The world’s best one-stop airline safety and product rating review website” (you have to admire the unashamed brazenness of an independent rating website, rating itself) placed all of Dubai’s commercial airlines within its top 20 Safest Airlines and Safest Low-Cost Airline indexes. (with three of the five appearing in the top 10).

Etihad was named fourth and Emirates sixth in the main carrier category. The rest of the winners in top-to-bottom order are: Air New Zealand, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Emirates, All Nippon Airways, Finnair, Cathay Pacific Airways, Alaska Airlines, SAS, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, British Airways, Turkish Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Lufthansa/Swiss Group, KLM, Japan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Air France, Air Canada Group and United Airlines. Although on a personal note, the Emirates safety video remains top of our pre-flight checklist chart – shout out to the lady swatting away imaginary vape plumes.

The ranking for Low-Cost carriers emerged with Jetstar taking the top spot, followed by: easyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Norwegian, Frontier, Vueling, Vietjet, Southwest, Volaris, flydubai, AirAsia Group, Cebu Pacific, Sun Country, Spirit, Westjet, JetBlue, Air Arabia, Indigo and Eurowings.

That’s Etihad, Emirates, Wizz Air, flydubai and Air Arabia – all featuring in, what is ostensibly, the Premier League of in flight peace-of-mind.

Safe how?

How does AirlineRatings.com come up with these rankings?

According to the website, the ratings take into account: serious incidents, recent fatal accidents, audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies, profitability, industry-leading safety initiatives, expert pilot training assessment and fleet age.

It’s also worth noting that the table leaves out certain factors deemed beyond the control of airlines, such as bird strikes, turbulence injuries, weather diversions and lightning strikes.

Talking about the latest results, AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said: “Our Top Twenty-Five Safest Airlines are all standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of new aircraft.”

“The safety margins between these top twenty-five airlines are very small,” Mr. Thomas said.

Images: provided