Dubai:  Twenty airlines, including two major Gulf carriers, have just been named as the world's safest to fly in for 2016.

AirlineRAtings.com, which reviewed 407 airlines, picked Australia’s Qantas as the world’s safest. Holding the top spot for the third year running, Qantas has never had a fatal jet airliner accident.

Making up the remainder of the top 20 in alphabetical order are: Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia.

The rating website said it does not numerically rank its safest airlines as “they are so close in operational safety”, but it does pick out “one overall standout airline.”

“However, there is no question that Qantas remains a standout in safety enhancements and best practice,” said Geoffrey Thomas of AirlineRatings.com.

The site looked at a number of indicators to come up with the list, including operational history, incident records and operational excellence of each airline.

It also took into account several factors related to audits from aviation’s governing bodies and lead associations, as well as government audits and crash records.

“Our top safest airlines are always at the forefront of safety innovation, operational excellence and the launching of new more advanced aircraft,” said Thomas. “These airlines are always at the forefront for excellence in the safety space.

AirlineRatings also identified the top ten safest low-cost carriers in the world and these are in alphabetical order: Aer Lingus, Flybe, HK Express, Jetblue, Jetstar Australia, Thomas Cook, TUI Fly, Virgin America, Volaris and Westjet.

These carriers, unlike many budget airlines, have all passed the stringent international Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and have excellet safety records.

Airlines were given stars during the review. Out of the 407surveyed,148 earned the top seven-star safety ranking but almost 50 had just three stars or less. Only ten airlines got one star and these are from Indonesia, Nepal and Surinam.

Click here for more information about the safety ratings system.

20 SAFEST AIRLINES:

(in alphabetical order after Qantas):

Qantas

Air New Zealand

Alaska Airlines

All Nippon Airways

American Airlines

Cathay Pacific Airways

Emirates

Etihad Airways

EVA Air

Finnair

Hawaiian Airlines

Japan Airlines

KLM

Lufthansa

Scandinavian Airline System

Singapore Airlines

Swiss

United Airlines

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Australia

10 SAFEST LOW-COST AIRLINES:

Aer Lingus

Flybe

HK Express

Jetblue

Jetstar Australia

Thomas Cook

TUI Fly

Virgin America

Volaris

Westjet

Source: AirlineRatings.com