Qantas has been named the world’s safest airline, beating 449 other carriers with its fatality-free record and history of “firsts in safety”.

According to the report published by AirlineRatings.com, Qantas has amassed an “extraordinary record of firsts in safety and operations” throughout its 94-year history, and has suffered no passenger fatalities since the introduction of jet aeroplanes.

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The report said Qantas had been a leader in the development of the flight data recorder, air navigation systems, and was accepted as the world’s most experienced airline.

Jetstar is almost one of the world’s safest airlines.

The top 10 safest airlines in alphabetical order were Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Finnair, Lufthansa, Qantas and Singapore Airlines.

Australian budget airline Jetstar was also named one of the world’s top 10 safest budget airlines.

In 2015, AirlineRatings.com’s top 10 safest budget airlines were, in alphabetical order, Aer Lingus, Alaska Airlines, Icelandair, Jetstar, Jetblue, Kulula.com, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook, TUI Fly and Westjet.

The report comes after what was “no doubt” a horror year for airline safety, with fatal air accidents in 2014 well above the 10-year average.

“Certainly 21 fatal accidents with 986 fatalities – higher than the 10-year average – is sickening. However, the world’s airlines carried a record 3.3 billion passengers on 27 million flights,” the report said.