Air New Zealand makes list of 20 safest airlines for 2016

Air New Zealand has once again made the list of the top 20 safest airlines in the world.

The airline also featured on last year's list, which is compiled annually byAirlineRatings.com,an independent plane safety and product rating website.

Topping the list was Qantas, for the third year running, with the Australian carrier praised for its "extraordinary fatality-free record in the jet era".

1.Qantas

2.Air New Zealand

3.Alaska Airlines

4.All Nippon Airlines (ANA)

5.American Airlines

6.Cathay Pacific Airways

7.Emirates

8.Etihad Airways

9.EVA Air

10.Finnair

11.Hawaiian Airlines

12.Japan Airlines

13.KLM

14.Lufthansa

15.Scandinavian Airline System (SAS)

16.Singapore Airlines

17.Swiss

18.United Airlines

19.Virgin Atlantic

20.Virgin Australia

The safety ratings are based on a range of factors such as each airline's operational history, incident records and operational excellence.

AirlineRatings.com also identified the top 10 safest budget airlines, which have all passed the stringent International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).

They are, in alphabetical order:

1.Aer Lingus

2.Flybe

3.HK Express

4.Jetblue

5.Jetstar Australia

6.Thomas Cook

7.TUI Fly

8.Virgin America

9.Volaris

10.Westjet