The 21 safest airlines in the world

• AirlineRatings.com has released its annual list of the safest airlines in the world.
• The publication's editorial team selected the 21 safest carriers from a pool of 405 airlines.
• Australia's Qantas was named the safest airline in the world.
• Other major carriers that made the list include American Airlines, United Airlines, Emirates, British Airways, Lufthansa, and Singapore Airlines.

Despite a topsy-turvy 2018, commercial air travel remains one of the safest forms of transportation.

On Thursday, AirlineRatings.com unveiled its latest list of the safest airlines in the world. The Australian website, which reviews aviation safety and in-flight products, selected the winning carriers from a pool of 405 airlines.

"These airlines are standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and the design and launching of new aircraft," Geoffrey Thomas, AirlineRatings.com's editor-in-chief, said in a statement.

The airline that AirlineRatings.com chose as the safest for 2019 is the Australian carrier Qantas.

Read more: The 10 best airlines in the world for 2019

"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," Thomas said.

"But Qantas is not alone," Thomas continued. "Long established airlines such as Hawaiian and Finnair have perfect records in the jet era."

Qantas was not immediately available for comment.

Apart from Qantas, AirlineRatings.com declined to rank the other 20 airlines on its list.

Airlines from Europe and Asia dominate the list with eight and six entrants, respectively. No airlines from South America or Africa made the list.

According to the publication's editorial team, the airlines are selected based a host of factors, including results from audits conducted by aviation-governing bodies, government audits, the airline's crash and accident records, fleet age, and profitability.

Here's a look at the safest airlines in the world counting down from 21 in reverse-alphabetical order, except for Qantas, which holds the No. 1 spot:

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21. Virgin Australia, the Australian offshoot of Richard Branson's aviation empire, was founded in 1999 as a low-cost carrier called Virgin Blue. In 2011, the company switched to a traditional, full-service business model and was rebranded as Virgin Australia. The airline has no fatal crashes in its history.

20. Virgin Atlantic is Branson's original aviation venture. Since 2012, 49% of the Crawley, England-based carrier has been under the control of the Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. Virgin Atlantic has not suffered any fatal crashes.

19. The Chicago-based United Airlines took its current shape in 2012 with the merger of United and Continental airlines. United has not suffered a fatal crash unrelated to terrorism in more than 20 years.