SEPANG, Malaysia – AirAsia Group has been recertified as seven-star airlines by AirlineRatings.com under its enhanced safety ratings criteria.
Every airline that was rated has also achieved IOSA accreditation – the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit program, which is a key global benchmark for upholding the highest safety standards at all times.
AirAsia’s sustained seven-star rating is underpinned by its commitment to safety across all operations. This achievement is driven by key initiatives such as extensive employee training, a highly experienced engineering team with more than 20 years of expertise, and rigorous maintenance procedures.
AirAsia also maintains a robust internal safety management system (SMS) and corporate governance structure, including a Board-level Safety Review Board (SRB), and meets the highest global safety standards with certifications like the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part 145 approval, ensuring the highest level of safety compliance and operational performance.
AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas said: “The AirAsia Group had achieved an excellent safety rating under our enhanced rating criteria and were performing almost flawlessly. The AirAsia Group’s on-time performance rate is tracking well, the incident rate is almost non-existent and the airline’s safety performance is extremely impressive,” added Mr Thomas.
AirAsia Aviation Group’s CEO Bo Lingam, welcomed the news that airlines under the AirAsia Group have been recertified with a 7/7 safety rating:
“To date, AirAsia Group has flown nearly 800 million passengers since its inception over 23 years ago, including close to 150 million guests since the pandemic. As the aviation industry continues to face the challenges and opportunities of fleet reactivations and growing travel demand in the region, this recognition from AirlineRatings.com underscores AirAsia’s laser focus on enhancing safety protocols, operational efficiency, and on-time performance. We continually invest in our people, technology, and processes to comply with the highest standards, including regular IOSA audits by IATA.
“As a Group, we are reaching beyond the regional geographical boundaries and leveraging on the expertise within all of our airlines embracing our core value of ‘safety is always our number one priority’. Our safety management ecosystem is amplified thanks to AirAsia Group’s collective strengths – being ‘safer and stronger together’ to conform beyond the required safety standards and protocols.
“With this acknowledgment further supporting our growth strategy, we remain dedicated to being one of the top low-cost carriers globally, delivering safe and reliable air travel for our guests.”
“Safety is always at the core of every decision we make, shaping our brand’s integrity and reputation. This recognition will only push us to continuously improve and deliver safe, reliable, and cost-efficient service so our guests can continue to fly with confidence, knowing they are in the best hands,” said AirAsia Philippines CEO Ricky Isla.
Geoffrey Thomas continued, “Our safety rating tool is unrivaled in the aviation industry and tens of millions of travelers come to us to seek reassurance before they book a flight.
“This isn’t merely recognition; it’s a validation of the unrivaled meticulous work that goes on behind the scenes, as we strive to create a safer, more informed world of air travel.
“As we have very recently relaunched our revamped website, we are now recertifying all seven-star airlines, leveraging additional safety data and analysis plus expertise from former check & training pilots to bolster our rating system’s robustness,” he said.
Additional safety data and analysis for recertification include in the areas of pilot training and incidents.
AirAsia Group operates the Airbus family aircraft (A320/A330) which all have excellent safety records and high dispatch reliability. The airline Group has significant expansion plans to facilitate many new services and more destinations in the future.
The award follows a number of wins in 2024 for AirAsia Group, including Best Low-Cost Airline Skytrax – for 15 consecutive years and World Travel Awards Best Low-Cost Airline Asia/Best Low-Cost Cabin Crew Asia for nine and eight years in a row respectively, at the World Travel Awards Asia.
*AirAsia Group includes AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Philippines, AirAsia Indonesia, AirAsia Thailand. Included in these ratings are affiliate medium-haul airlines AirAsia X and Thailand AirAsia X. AirAsia Cambodia isn’t included as it has only recently commenced operations and will be reviewed in due course.
