Flying by commercial airline is commonly referred to as the safest way to travel.
But a fatal crash in South Korea, and the downing of an aircraft in Azerbaijan, have once again raised questions about the dangers associated with aviation.
While airlines must adhere to strict laws – many are banned from entering UK airspace by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Bernard Lavelle, an aviation consultant at BL Aviation Consulting told The i Paper: “I would definitely avoid flying on any of these airlines.”
He added: “Many airlines from war-torn areas or smaller nations do not necessarily have the finance of aviation infrastructure to support safe aviation.”
Safety ranking service AirlineRatings.com, has evaluated many of these airlines based on international audits, crash data, and adherence to these government regulations.
According to their analysis of the world’s lowest-ranking airlines for safety, The i Paper delves into four carriers with troubling safety records.
Aeroflot
Aeroflot, a Russian airline with roots in the Soviet era, remains operational today despite its grim history, having recorded more fatalities – 11,788 according to the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives – than any other airline.
While many of the deaths were recorded between the 1930s and 1990s – with outdated aircraft navigating wintry conditions – in recent decades, Aeroflot has sought to modernise its fleet and improve safety standards.
But the airline’s safety culture still comes under heavy international scrutiny following a 2008 crash that led to the death of 88 passengers in Siberia.
Investigators later discovered that the captain had elevated blood alcohol levels, igniting a nationwide debate in Russia about alcohol consumption among pilots.
A year later, on a flight from Moscow to New York, a pilot delivered a drunken message to the passengers before take-off.
When passengers began to protest, they were told to “stop making trouble”.
The pilot later confirmed he had celebrated his birthday the day before the incident, but the airline said no trace of alcohol had been found in his body after a series of tests.
The Russian airline Aeroflot later apologised to passengers, but it remains banned from the UK due to the sanctions imposed on Russia.
Mr Lavelle added that Russian airliners could grow increasingly unsafe due to airlines’ inability to get spare parts from Boeing and Airbus after sanctions were imposed by the US.
Pakistan International Airlines
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the state-owned flag carrier, is notorious for accidents and regulatory failures. On 22 May 2020, Flight 8303 crashed in a devastating approach to Karachi.
The Airbus A320’s landing gear was not deployed after the engines sustained damage and eventually failed, leading to a belly landing that caused the plane to crash into a residential area.
Of the 99 people onboard, 97 died, along with one person on the ground. Investigators attributed the tragedy to pilot error and a high cockpit workload.
The scandal led to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) banning the airline from flying to the UK, home to the largest Pakistani community in Europe, with more than 1.5 million people.
An investigation revealed that PIA reinstated 110 of the 141 pilots whose licenses had been suspended, according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. The airline revoked the licenses of 15 pilots, while 14 were deemed unfit to fly.
In November 2024, the European Union and UK lifted their ban on PIA, and the airline now plans to seek approval from the UK’s Department for Transport to resume UK routes, PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told Reuters earlier this month.
Precision Air
Tanzania’s largest airline has generally maintained a solid safety record, becoming the first Tanzanian airline to pass the IATA Operational Safety Audit in 2006.
But a spate of recent incidents has led to the airline achieving a one star out of seven safety ranking, according to AirlineRanking.com.
In 2022, Precision Air flight 494, crashed into Lake Victoria while attempting to land at Bukoba Airport in Tanzania.
The crew circled the airport twice following bad weather, and informed passengers of a possible diversion. On the third approach attempt, the runway became visible, and the pilot continued the landing before it crashed into the lake, resulting in the deaths of the pilot, copilot, and seventeen passengers.
Years before this incident, Precision Air flights had veered off a runway at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta Airport, one of its planes also landed prematurely after its tires deflated, and a separate flight was forced to divert to Kilimanjaro International Airport after an engine failure.
Utair
A Russian airline based in the remote Sibrian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, it has a troubling history of accidents, particularly involving its helicopter fleet.
In 2012, an ATR 72-200 crashed near Roshchino International Airport, killing 33 of the 43 people onboard.
Another fatal accident occurred in 2018, when a Mi-8 helicopter crashed in Krasnoyarsk Territory, resulting in 18 deaths. In 2007, a Tupolev Tu-134 crash-landed in Samara, killing seven passengers.
While the airline continues to operate domestically and internationally, these incidents have tarnished its reputation.
Utair is among many banned Russian air carriers from flying in the EU and UK’s air space.
