The issue of flight safety is one of the most pressing issues that, one way or another, all travelers ask. Regardless of the distance, any tourist wants the hours and minutes spent in the sky to be as calm and comfortable as possible.
Often the choice of the airline that operates the flight, completely affects all these factors. Every year, international companies compile airline ratings that reflect the entire work of the carrier and its main indicator for the passenger - safety.
The Vipgeo portal represents the safest airlines in Russia and the world, according to international ratings and authoritative publications.
Important: The list of airlines was compiled based on the rating of the European Aviation Safety Agency - EASA. There are several other similar agencies in the world, and their data may vary slightly.
Safe airlines in Russia
According to European agencies, for 2019, the airline "" is recognized as the safest carrier registered in Russia. She was assigned the highest rating of 0.24 points, based on the calculation - the closer to one, the more dangerous flights by this carrier.
The rating is compiled on the basis of checking the general condition of the liners, punctuality and compliance with documentary standards and international law. As for air crashes, since 1993, the Urals have not had a single incident with human casualties.
"S7"
In second place in terms of safety is the largest air carrier beyond the Urals " S7", formerly known as the company" Siberia ". The “Siberians” have an older aircraft fleet, most often 15-20-year-old Airbuses and Boeings work in the company on regular flights. However, the technical condition of the aircraft never caused any complaints from international commissions.
The company's biggest plane crashes occurred in the early 2000s, when more than 300 people died in total. Since then, the S7 transportation safety level has met all international standards, and there have been no precedents, except for two emergency landings.
As for the largest and oldest airline in Russia - "" - today the most disputes. On the one hand, they have the most impressive budget and allow you to regularly update your fleet of aircraft. But on the other hand, a series of disasters in the 90s seriously damaged the reputation of the once transportation giant. Therefore, now - only third place and 0.38 points.
But the main thing worth saying about Aeroflot is that the company is the only Russian carrier that consistently enters international ratings. True, the same JACDEC agency in 2019 placed Aeroflot only in 36th place in the list of the safest airlines in the world.
Registered in Khanty-Mansiysk, the company "" today is one of the most popular carriers in the country, with dozens of domestic and international destinations.
Interestingly, the company's fleet is based on new medium-capacity aircraft of the ATR brand, which makes the carrier a kind of leader in short regional flights.
Air crashes have happened at UTair, but the last major incident happened in 2014 with a MI-8 cargo helicopter. Passenger planes fly without incident.
The safest airlines in the world
The rating of the safest air carriers in the world in 2019 was deservedly headed by the Hong Kong-based company. It has been on the market since 1946, and over the past three decades, the only incident associated with its aircraft was a hard landing of a passenger airliner flying from Indonesia.
Today, Cathay Pacific Airways serves dozens of countries, including all of Southeast Asia, Europe, the USA and Russia. Recently, the company has even launched a Russian-language website with the ability to book tickets.
Despite the incidents of 2017, the carriers of the United Arab Emirates continue to rank second in the ranking of the safest airlines in the world. And the best of the best is the company "". They annually update the fleet of ships, and also regularly improve the quality of passenger service - from economy class to first class.
For Russian tourists, the Emirates company is important if only because it cooperates with S7 by organizing connecting flights to Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Maldives in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In addition, in 10 Russian cities there is the possibility of direct charter flights by this company.
EVAAir
The third place in the ranking of the safest airlines is occupied by another Chinese carrier - " EVAAir". It began work in 1989, and over the years of its existence, it has not allowed a single air crash with human casualties. The only precedents were associated with a hard landing in the United States.
Unfortunately, Russian travelers can use the services of this airline only at Asian airports.
Qatar Airways
And the fourth place, according to the airline safety ratings of 2019, was firmly occupied by Middle Eastern aircraft from the company "". The carrier is based in Doha and serves 160 destinations worldwide. Since 1993, the company has had only two accidents, but both of them did without human casualties.
The carrier has a huge fleet of Boeings and Airbuses. What is attractive for Russian tourists is that Qatari planes regularly fly through Moscow, St. Petersburg and Voronezh.
Are low-cost airlines as dangerous as they are said to be?
Recently, due to increased reports of low-cost airline crashes, many tourists have begun to abandon cheap carriers, sincerely believing that companies intend to save on safety for the sake of the number of tickets sold. But how true is this?
Tourists with extensive experience flying low-cost airlines claim that rumors and speculation are nothing more than exaggerations. Yes, there are problems with low-cost airlines, but the key cause of disasters, as elsewhere, is the human factor. Links to supposedly old planes of our Pobeda and other cheap companies are fake. Doubting participants in the discussions are sent to the official websites of the carrier.
If we take the issue seriously, then the main problem of low-cost airlines is the lack of proper comfort during the flight, but not the safety of passengers. If you choose a cheap flight, you need to know what you are saving on. If you are afraid, you have a direct road to the ticket offices of major airlines.
How to choose a comfortable and at the same time inexpensive airline for flights in Russia? Answering this question, Forbes for the first time compiled a rating of air carriers. The service in the Russian sky was studied by the experts of the Aviaport agency for several months, and the Aviasales metasearch engine analyzed the tariff policy specifically for Forbes. Thus, we compared the leading Russian airlines in terms of price / quality ratio.
HOW WE CONSIDERED
The rating provides an assessment of Russian airlines and foreign carriers operating flights to Russia in terms of price / quality ratio. To assess the quality, we took as a basis the results of the survey “Service in the Russian Sky” by the Aviaport agency. Under the guise of "mystery passengers", the agency's experts checked the level of service provided by airlines at all stages: from buying a ticket to getting off the plane after the flight. During the study, more than 80 flights with a total duration of more than 15 days were performed. To the results of their observations, we have added another important service component - punctuality (the source of statistics for Russian airlines is the Federal Air Transport Agency, for foreign ones - flightstats.com). Next, we assigned airlines points for the quality of services, a maximum of 50.
To evaluate the pricing policy specifically for Forbes, the Russian metasearch engine for air tickets Aviasales analyzed the sales of selected airlines for 11 months of 2016 for about 500 flights and for each flight deduced the average check of one adult passenger. We divided the flights into groups depending on the duration of the flight (12 groups on domestic routes and 12 groups on international routes) and compared the pricing policy of airlines in each group, assigning points: the cheaper the tickets, the higher the score (maximum - 50). We then derived an average pricing policy score for each airline. At the last stage, we ranked airlines by the sum of two points.
2. Aeroflot
Year of creation: 1923
Owner: Federal Property Management Agency (51.17%)
Supervisor: Vitaly Saveliev
Number of passengers: 26.6 million (January-November 2016)
Base airport: Sheremetyevo (Moscow)
The country's largest air carrier has become one of the main beneficiaries of Transaero's exit from the market: it was Aeroflot that got the rights of a former competitor on 37 of 46 international routes. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency for the 11 months of 2016, Aeroflot and its three subsidiaries (Pobeda, Rossiya, Aurora) accounted for 40 million passengers, or 48.8% of the transportation of Russian companies. Thus, over the year, the group's market share (excluding foreign airlines) increased by 6.9 percentage points.
9. VIM-Avia
Year of creation: 2002
Owners: Svetlana and Rashid Mursekaeva
Supervisor: Alexander Kochnev
Number of passengers: 2 million (January-November 2016)
Base airport: Domodedovo (Moscow)
VIM-Avia was created in 2002 by Viktor Ivanovich Merkulov, his initials were included in the name of the company. Merkulov made a bet on foreign aircraft and charter flights. In 2003, VIM-Avia bought 12 used Boeing 757s, entered into agreements with travel agencies, and in a year and a half became the largest charter operator. Soon Merkulov was joined by a partner, Rashid Mursekaev, who later bought out 75% of the airline.
10. Northstar
Year of creation: 2008
Owner: Norilsk Nickel
Supervisor: Leonid Mokhov
Number of passengers: 1.2 million (January-November 2016)
Base airports: Domodedovo (Moscow), Emelyanovo (Krasnoyarsk)
Nord Star is the brand of the Taimyr airline owned by Norilsk Nickel. At first, flights between Moscow, Norilsk and Krasnoyarsk were a priority. Now it is one of the largest carriers in Siberia, which has more than 40 destinations, including international ones. Nornickel wanted to merge Nord Star with its Nordavia company, but the FAS blocked the deal. Soon Nornickel sold Nordavia.
11. Yamal
Year of creation: 1997
Owner: YNAO Property Department
Supervisor: Vasily Kryuk
Number of passengers: 1.4 million (January-November 2016)
Base airport: Roschino (Tyumen)
In 1999, the main carrier of Yamal began to operate international flights, in 2008 it launched charter flights from Domodedovo to several cities in Bulgaria, as well as to Switzerland and Austria. After the opening of the Zhukovsky airport in 2016, Yamal, along with Ural Airlines, was supposed to start flights to Tajikistan from there. But the country's authorities in December 2016 denied him flights. In response, the Ministry of Transport suspended the flights of the Tajik Somon Air in Russia.
12. Red Wings
Year of creation: 1999
Owner:"Sky Invest"
Supervisor: Evgeny Klyucharev
Base airport: Domodedovo (Moscow)
From 2007 to 2013, the company was owned by Alexander Lebedev, who dropped out of the list of billionaires. In 2012, after a Red Wings plane rolled out while landing on a highway at Vnukovo and fell apart, the company lost its license. Lebedev sold the company for a symbolic ruble to businessman Sergei Kuznetsov, brother of Artem Kuznetsov, co-owner of the Guta group. Red Wings is one of the few Russian airlines that prefers a fleet of domestic production - Tu-204/214 aircraft.
The authoritative German bureau JACDEC has released a safety rating of world airlines based on the results of 2017. This time, the researchers seriously changed the assessment methodology, which is why the rating was seriously “shaken up”. Almost all Chinese have disappeared from the first G20. Aeroflot took 73rd place, for the first time S7 Airlines appeared in the rating - at 95th position. What is the essence of the new assessment methodology and who is the first?
Now, instead of conditional scores that assess the degree of risk, a percentage scale has been introduced. In addition to the number of air incidents and accidents, the position in the ranking is now influenced by numerous parameters that evaluate the operational performance of each airline. All risk factors and negative factors from the history of air crashes are integrated into the assessment according to a single formula for all, which gives a theoretical maximum of "100% safety" - such an assessment, according to JACDEC, is easier to understand. Previously, the decisive factor was precisely the number of incidents, incidents and disasters that have already occurred (in fact, all three events differ in the presence and severity of consequences in the form of damage and casualties) over the past 30 years. Now, the longer the statute of limitations of an event, the less its negative contribution to the assessment: thus, several years of accident-free flights improve the airline's assessment, allowing it to "correct" for past failures.
The most important source of information on aircraft accidents for JACDEC are the official reports of the organizations involved in their investigation. The open information policy in countries such as the US, Canada, or the European Union gives odds to carriers from these countries: in turn, countries where accident data are not published or only partially published spoil the ratings of their airlines. For example, it is Qatar, Turkey or China.
They also evaluate the competence of the regulator that controls the airline in a particular country, and take into account data from the reports of the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP), and the Internation Aviation Assessment Program, which is published by the American FAA - they just assess the ability of each country to provide aviation security, as well as the quality of aviation infrastructure and political stability (!)
Moreover, the features of the route network are taken into account - for example, accident-free flights in difficult climatic conditions (such as winter in Canada) will bring more positive points, as well as the predominance of short routes will give more points due to more take-off and landing cycles, which are considered the most dangerous.
The new rating includes 100 airlines, not 60 as before. It is incorrect to compare the data of 2017 with the indicators of previous years due to different assessment methods. Last year, of the Russian airlines in the table, only Aeroflot was present in 37th place. In past years, Transaero was in the top positions. The table is clickable.
Air travel has become an integral part of everyday life for many people. Business trips to different parts of the country and abroad are always associated with the purchase of air tickets, during which everyone tries not only to find a favorable price offer, but also to fly with a reliable air carrier.
Especially for you, we have compiled a list of Russian airlines in 2020, ranking them according to the degree of reliability and accident-free operation in accordance with the research of the German agency Jacdec, the European organization EASA and the international organizations IOSA and ICAO.
When calculating the aviation safety index, data on disasters over the past 30 years are taken into account, as well as passenger traffic, the number of victims and lost airliners.
When compiling the list, we also took into account the level of service on board and the average age of Russian airlines. The rating statistics by the number of liners and their average age is based on March 2016 data.
Rating of Russian airlines in terms of flight reliability and safety 2020
- Aeroflot
- Russia
- Ural Airlines
- UTair
- Orenburg Airlines
- Red Wings
Aeroflot
The first place in the rating by all indicators is rightfully occupied by Aeroflot, the largest air carrier in the Russian Federation, which has the largest fleet in Europe. This is the only domestic company that appears in the prestigious Jacdec rating, which means that it is considered by foreign experts to be more reliable than others in Russia. In addition, Aeroflot has repeatedly received the honorary title of the best airline in Eastern Europe.
The advantages of the company are different models of aircraft for every taste, well-trained staff, well-thought-out bonus programs and its own Situation Center, created to quickly solve problem situations. Aeroflot includes Rossiya, Transaero and Pobeda airlines.
- Year of foundation - 1923.
- Aircraft in the fleet: 170 units.
- Average age of airliners: 4.5 years.
Before the rebranding, the company was named "Siberia". If we consider reliability, then S7 is among the top three recognized leaders in this indicator. In 2015, this well-known air carrier received an award from National Geographic as the best Russian airline, and ranks 95th in the S7 world ranking.
A significant advantage of the company is a profitable bonus program, thanks to which regular passengers can accumulate bonuses and subsequently spend them on paying part of the cost of tickets. A feature of S7 is convenient direct flights to Asia.
- Year of foundation - 1957.
- Aircraft in the fleet: 58 units.
- Average age of airliners: 10 years.
In 2015, Rossiya Airlines entered the TOP-10 air carriers of our country in terms of flight safety. In 2014, Rossiya was recognized as the best in the field of regional routes, and in 2014 it became the fifth largest domestic airline. In terms of punctuality, Rossiya was included in the rating of top European companies.
The main advantage of Rossiya is its democratic pricing policy and impeccable cleanliness on board. Passengers are dissatisfied only with airliners, whose age in most cases exceeds 10 years.
- Year of foundation - 1992.
- Aircraft in the fleet: 23 units.
- Average age of airliners: 13.6 years.
Ural Airlines
The planes of one of the largest domestic air transportation companies in 2014 were recognized as the most reliable, and the air carrier itself received three awards at once, including as the best on domestic routes.
If we consider the volume of passenger traffic in Russia, Ural Airlines takes an honorable third place. A distinctive feature of the airline is the availability of a special training room for pilots, which has analogues only abroad.
- Year of foundation - 1993.
- Aircraft in the fleet: 35 units.
- Average age of airliners: 12.7 years.
This company is in the TOP-5 in Russia in terms of passenger traffic. In 2014, UTair received a prestigious award as the best passenger carrier on regional routes.
- Year of foundation - 1991.
- Aircraft in the fleet: 66 units.
- Average age of airliners: 14.5 years.
The main sphere of presence of this air carrier is the Tyumen region and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The fact that the aircraft used by the company are recognized as safe and reliable reflects the certificate of the International Air Transport Association, which Yamal received in 2013. A year later, the carrier was recognized as the best airline in the field of passenger transportation and the best helicopter operator.
The advantages of the Yamal company are flights to hard-to-reach settlements and regular expansion of the route network. Passengers are dissatisfied with the lack of punctuality of pilots.
- Year of foundation - 1997.
- Aircraft in the fleet: 24 units.
- Average age of airliners: 14.1 years.
Orenburg Airlines
This air carrier is a subsidiary of the Russian Aeroflot. In 2013, Orenburg Airlines received national recognition by being awarded the Airline of the Year award according to passengers.
- Year of foundation - 1992.
- Aircraft in the fleet: 19 units.
- Average age of airliners: 11 years.
The only aviation company in the Russian Federation that operates domestic Tu-204 and Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliners.
- Year of foundation - 1999.
- Aircraft in the park: 13 units.
- Average age of airliners: 6.6 years.
So, now you know the best Russian airlines in 2020, which made it to our list due to their excellent level of service, an impressive volume of passenger air transportation, a large number of safe technically sound modern aircraft, punctuality and favorable price offers. When looking for a reliable air carrier, try to choose from these companies in order to be sure of the safety and comfort of your upcoming flight.
Summing up the results of 2017, the Federal Air Transport Agency published a brief statistics on the work of civil aviation in the Russian Federation. The big picture for participants rating of Russian airlines in 2018 looks favorable. The air transportation market continues to develop, and almost all reliable Russian airlines included in the list showed an increase in the number of passengers and kilometers flown by an average of 15%. At the same time, the weight of the top five airlines continues to grow. If in 2017 they occupied 67.4% of the total volume, then in 2018 it is already 85%.
Travel with a reliable tour operator: .
Read also:, the best air carriers of the year according to Skytrax.
Opens the rating of the largest airlines in Russia Nordwind Airlines, aka "North Wind". Over the past year, the number of passengers amounted to 3.5 million people and increased by 95% compared to 2016. Passenger turnover also showed growth, increasing by 44%.
One of the largest charter carriers in Russia, which transported more than 2.2 million passengers in 2017, was called to the carpet at the Federal Air Transport Agency in the summer of 2016 due to constant long flight delays up to several tens of hours. The carrier promised to take action. In case of inability to establish regular flights at the exact time, the company faces a restriction on transportation.
Azur Air was a subsidiary of UTair, but two years ago it set off on its own. In 2017, the number of passengers of the company amounted to 3.6 million people, almost 2/3 more than in 2016.
Globus is part of the S7 Group, being a subsidiary of the aviation giant Siberia, which took second place in the ranking of the best airlines. 2017 turned out to be favorable for the company - the number of passengers increased by 20.2%, amounting to 4.1 million people.
The subsidiary of Aeroflot, which took over from Dobrolet, who died as a result of UES sanctions, is positioned as a budget company. Although the first tickets for flights of the new airline were sold only two years ago, it confidently entered the top 10 Russian airlines.
The number of passengers in 2017 amounted to 4.3 million people, an increase of 5% compared to 2016. Despite his youth, the flights of "Victory" have already managed to acquire scandals. Users are dissatisfied with the policy of withholding the real price for the flight, the requirement to pay for the opportunity to sit together with families, flight delays and cases when tickets for a flight are sold more than the number of seats.
In fifth place in the rating of Russian airlines in 2018 is Ural Airlines, which transported 7.5 million people in 2017, demonstrating an increase of 25%. In the meantime, the company requires the Federal Air Transport Agency to pay for the transportation of WWII veterans to celebrate the anniversary of the Victory in 2015. The Rosaviatsia rejected the application for payment, finding fault with the fact that it does not contain the words “including VAT” and other points of the same degree of importance.
The owner of the world's largest operating helicopter fleet appears to have recovered from the late 2014 crisis. In 2017, the number of passengers carried by this company amounted to 6.8 million people, an increase of 9.1% compared to 2016.
The second subsidiary of the giant Aeroflot, ranked among the top 10 Russian airlines in 2018, carried more than 10.6 million people last year, posting an impressive 41.5% growth in passenger numbers, the highest of the ranking airlines. At the same time, the passenger turnover increased by 55.3%.
In second place in the ranking of the largest airlines in Russia is Siberia, aka S7 Airlines, which operates flights to 83 destinations both in Russia and abroad. Most of the latter, however, are served by partner airlines. In total, 9.3 million passengers were transported in 2017.
Russians continue to fly with Aeroflot aircraft. In 2017, the company transported more than 30.5 million people, more than 3 times ahead of Siberia, which took second place in the rating. No wonder, because Aeroflot is the largest and oldest Russian airline, which has been carrying passengers since 1923. Although the company was included in the black sanctions list of Ukraine, this does not prevent an increase in the number of shipments.
According to such criteria as the number of passengers and passenger turnover, the company recorded an increase of 12% over the past year. By the way, Aeroflot can also be called one of the safest airlines in 2018 in Russia- there has not been a single major plane crash on its lines, counting, of course, subsidiaries and misfortunes caused by the actions of third parties. In the airline safety rating published in 2017 by the JACDEC auditing company, Aeroflot ranks 37th.
2017 World Airlines Safety Rating (JACDEC)
| Rank | Airline | The country | Carrier code | Safety index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cathay Pacific Airways | China,Hong Kong | CX, CPA | 0,005 |
| 2 | Air New Zealand | New Zealand | NZ, ANZ | 0,007 |
| 3 | Hainan Airlines | China | HU, CHH | 0,009 |
| 4 | Qatar Airways | Qatar | QR, QTR | 0,009 |
| 5 | K L M | Netherlands | KL, KLM | 0,011 |
| 6 | EVA Air | Taiwan | BR,EVA | 0,012 |
| 7 | Emirates | United Arab Emirates | EK, UAE | 0,013 |
| 8 | Etihad Airways | United Arab Emirates | EY, ETD | 0,014 |
| 9 | QANTAS | Australia | QF, QFA | 0,015 |
| 10 | Japan Airlines | Japan | JL, JAL | 0,015 |
| 11 | All Nippon Airways | Japan | NH, ANA | 0,016 |
| 12 | Lufthansa | Germany | LH, DLH | 0,016 |
| 13 | TAP Portugal | Portugal | TP, TAP | 0,017 |
| 14 | Virgin Atlantic Airways | United Kingdom | VS, VIR | 0,017 |
| 15 | Delta Air Lines | USA | DL, DAL | 0,018 |
| 16 | Air Canada | Canada | AC, ACA | 0,02 |
| 17 | jetBlue Airways | USA | B6, JBU | 0,02 |
| 18 | Virgin Australia | Australia | VA, VOZ | 0,02 |
| 19 | british airways | United Kingdom | BA, B.A.W. | 0,023 |
| 20 | Air Berlin | Germany | AB, BER | 0,023 |
| 21 | WestJet Airlines | Canada | WS, WJA | 0,023 |
| 22 | Sichuan Airlines | China | 3U, CSC | 0,028 |
| 23 | Norwegian Air Shuttle | Norway | DY, NAX | 0,032 |
| 24 | Shenzhen Airlines | China | ZH, CSZ | 0,032 |
| 25 | Iberia | Spain | IB, IBE | 0,034 |
| 26 | Jetstar Airways | Australia | JQ, JST | 0,036 |
| 27 | Southwest Airlines | USA | WN, SWA | 0,037 |
| 28 | EasyJet | United Kingdom | U2, EZY | 0,037 |
| 29 | AirAsia | Malaysia | AK, AXM | 0,043 |
| 30 | Thomson Airways | United Kingdom | BY, TOM | 0,047 |
| 31 | United Airlines | USA | UA, UAL | 0,051 |
| 32 | Singapore Airlines | Singapore | SQ, SIA | 0,051 |
| 33 | China Eastern Airlines | China | MU, CES | 0,061 |
| 34 | Ryanair | Ireland | FR, RYR | 0,064 |
| 35 | Swiss | Switzerland | LX, SWR | 0,064 |
| 36 | LATAM Chile | Chile | LA, LAN | 0,095 |
| 37 | Aeroflot | Russia | SU, AFL | 0,101 |
| 38 | Jet Airways | India | 9W, JAI | 0,109 |
| 39 | Alitalia | Italy | AZ, AZA | 0,113 |
| 40 | Air India | India | AI, AIC | 0,115 |
| 58 | Garuda Indonesia | Indonesia | GA, GIA | 0,77 |
| 59 | Avianca Colombia | Colombia | AV, AVA | 0,914 |
| 60 | China Airlines | Taiwan | CI, CAL | 0,977 |
