British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are among the 20 safest airlines on Earth, according to an annual ranking of the world’s biggest carriers.

The website AirlineRatings.com assessed 405 major airlines this year before delivering its verdict, taking into account previous incidents, the average age of their fleets, and audits from governments and the aviation industry’s regulatory bodies.

It singled out Qantas as the world’s safest airline, as it has done in previous years, ahead of a chasing pack of 19 rivals.

BA and Virgin are the only UK airlines at the top table; others include Singapore Airlines, voted the world’s best long-haul airline by Telegraph Travel readers, Swiss, your favourite short-haul airline, as well as Air New Zealand, Emirates, KLM and Lufthansa.

“It is extraordinary that Qantas has been the lead airline in virtually every major operational safety advancement over the past 60 years and has not had a fatality in the jet era,” said Mr Geoffrey Thomas, AirlineRatings.com’s editor-in-chief.

American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Qatar Airways and United were promoted to the top 20 this year, at the expense of Etihad, Japan Airlines and Royal Jordanian. Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia, previously included as two separate airlines, were listed together for 2019.

The 20 safest airlines (in alphabetical order)