Cathay Pacific ranks low in Asia-Pacific safety survey

Cathay Pacific Airways ranked well below leading Asia-Pacific airlines in a survey of safety.

Australia's Qantas Airways was named the safest airline in the world on a top-20 list published by AirlineRatings.com, followed by Air New Zealand and Taiwan’s Eva Airways Corp.

The top 20 are: Air New Zealand, EVA Air, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Virgin Australia, Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, TAP Portugal, SAS, Royal Jordanian, Swiss, Finnair, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, and KLM.

AirlineRatings.com said it takes into account factors including audits by governing and industry bodies, crash and serious incident record, profitability and fleet age.

In a separate survey by OAG Aviation Worldwide., PT Garuda Indonesia ranked the most punctual carrier.

Panama’s Copa Airlines SA ranked second among airlines arriving or departing within 15 minutes of scheduled times.

Japan’s Skymark Airlines Inc., Hawaiian Airlines Inc. and Latam Airlines Group rounded out the top five.-Bloomberg/The Standard