Top 5 Safest European Airlines - 2023 Airline Safety Rankings by AirAdvisor

Written By Amy Lancelotte

7 minutes read
Last Updated: May 01, 2024

It’s almost obvious that safety has to be a priority with any airline. Passengers put their trust in pilots, maintenance crews, and safety officers every time they take to the skies. Any avid traveler knows that aircraft safety is crucial to airlines, and they don’t take it lightly. With that said, our goal is to highlight the safest European airlines for 2023. While there were accidents, they are incredibly uncommon, so reading this post should make you feel better about boarding your next flight.

To judge the 15 European airlines in our study, we combed through 1,039 passenger aircraft accidents worldwide from 2005 to 2023. Our findings include:

• A total of 36 accidents with airlines based in Europe.
• Only 2 accidents with European airlines were fatal.
• Three airlines had zero accidents in the 18 years of data from IATA.

Let’s get to the safest airlines in Europe so that you can feel confident when booking a future flight.

The 3 Safest European Airlines

As we briefly mentioned, there were 3 airlines with a completely accident-free record from 2005 to 2023. It should be noted that these 3 carriers are some of the smallest in Europe, typically having fewer than 100,000 flights annually. That means they are less likely to have accidents due to a lower volume.

Still, you can’t fault these zero accident stars, so we name them the safest airlines in Europe for 2023. Here they are in alphabetical order:

Aegean Airlines

Greece’s leading airline, Aegean, has an exemplary safety record overall. The only incidents that occurred on their watch were minor and not even classed as accidents. These include things like bird strikes, cracked windshields, and excessive turbulence, none of which caused a true disturbance or significant damage.

The most recent incident (not an accident) involved a loss of cabin pressure in July 2023. No one was injured, and the flight continued normally. Although it would have been scary for the passengers on board, everyone escaped unscathed.

The roughly 12 million passengers who fly with Aegean Airlines every year will certainly be glad to learn about the absence of accidents. It’s also good to know that Aegean ranked number 2 overall on our list of the top European airlines.

Norwegian Air Shuttle

Another member of the accident-free club since 2005 is Norwegian Air Shuttle, typically simply called Norwegian. Like Aegean, IATA reports no accidents for this carrier since the online reporting began. However, Norwegian does still experience the odd incident that might cause a minor scare to its passengers. Cracked windshields and bird strikes have occurred on their flights but with no adverse effects on passengers.

With roughly 17 million passengers, Norwegian has more flights than Aegean, but still only around 70,000 per year. Another plus of flying with Norwegian is that they are among Europe’s cheapest airlines, so feeling extra safe shouldn’t cost you a fortune!

 

 

 

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Volotea

Also earning the top spot in the rankings of the safest airlines to Europe (or within Europe) is the Spanish budget carrier Volotea. Like the others, Volotea didn’t encounter a single accident, as per IATA from 2005 to 2023. The only incidents involved the seemingly usual loss of cabin pressure and bird strikes. They had an engine trouble incident, but no actual accident occurred.

Volotea is well-liked by customers according to reviews, but that, coupled with its flawless safety record, wasn’t enough to pull the airline out of our list of the 3 worst airlines in Europe overall, unfortunately. But you simply can’t beat Volotea for safety.

Completing the Top 5

These next 2 carriers warrant mentioning in the running for the safest European airlines because they both had only one accident each and were non-fatal.

Air Europa 

An additional Spanish airline to make the list, Air Europa is another cost-friendly alternative that maintains notable safety standards. You don’t have to pay high prices to guarantee your safety, which should be reassuring.

The single accident of note occurred way back in 2007 and involved an off-runway touchdown. The plane incurred substantial damage and was surely a rough landing, but no one was severely injured.

Vueling

The Spanish airlines just keep coming, making us wonder if the country imposes stricter standards than others. Vueling, also based in Spain and a low-cost carrier, completes our top 5. Their accident happened a little more recently (in 2016) and resulted from a hard landing. Although there was significant damage, there were no casualties.

The Other European Airlines

Since we looked at a total of 15 airlines, we should also note that Lufthansa only had one accident during the reporting period. Because it was recent, the airline was bumped out of the top 5. The same goes for Finnair, who also had a recent accident on July 15, 2023.

As for the European airlines with 2 non-fatal accidents, those include Wizz Air, TAP (more on them later), and LOT Polish Airlines. The carriers with 3 accidents are KLM, Iberia, and Ryanair (also no casualties).

The news gets worse from there, with SAS Scandinavian Airlines reporting 6 accidents, and the highest number of accidents award goes to Air France, with 11.

 

 

 

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The Casualties

Two airlines regrettably had fatal accidents, one more severe than the other:

Air France

On June 1, 2009, Air France flight 447, travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, stalled in the air due to inconsistent air speeds. The pilots could not recover from the stall, and the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Everyone on board, 228 passengers and crew, perished in the tragic accident.

TAP Air Portugal

On September 2, 2002, a TAP flight landing at Conakry in Guinea from Lisbon encountered a fatal accident. No passengers were harmed, but two people riding a motorbike on the runway for security purposes were struck and killed by the plane’s right-hand engine. TAP also reported a non-fatal accident involving ground damage in 2013.

Summary of European Accidents from 2005 to 2023

Conclusion

As an air passenger, zero is the ideal number of accidents on the European airline you’re flying with. But hopefully, seeing how few accidents these airlines experienced and only 2 fatal ones in 18 years will give you a little comfort the next time you board.

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