How safe is an Aeroplane?

Since Channel Four’s documentary ‘The Plane Crash’ aired back in November 2012, many travellers have been less than thrilled about booking flights.

The documentary showed a team of experts crashing a plane filled with test dummies, and then analysing the remains, to see what damage the plane had sustained and which seats had damaged dummies.

The programme did cause some panic, as frightened travellers frantically tried to change their seats to a ‘safer’ part of the aircraft.

However, some good news for nervous travellers has recently been announced, as the world’s safest airlines have been revealed.

The Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre in Europe has declared, based on 30 years of data and passenger figures, that Finnair is officially the world’s safest airline.

The top 10 safest airliners included;

1. Finnair

2. Air New Zealand

3. Cathay Pacific

4. Emirates

5. Etihad

6. Eva Air

7. Tap Portugal

8. Hainan Airlines

9. Virgin Australia

10.British Airways

Interestingly no American airlines made it into the top ten, but British Airways was the 10th safest airline in the world – which should help to calm some nerves

In total there were just under 500 deaths on commercial flights around the world last year, which is slightly lower than the 2011 total. This is actually a very low figure, when you consider the overwhelming percentage of the world who use air travel.

Travellers should not avoid booking holidays simply because they are nervous about air travel. If you really can’t face boarding an aeroplane, you can still enjoy travel by using ferries and international trains.