AirlineRatings.com, a famous airline rating website, has announced its list of the world’s top 10 safest airlines for 2013.

Among the 448 airlines that the website monitors, 137 have the highest seven-star safety ranking, but almost 50 have just three stars or less.

Australian airline Qantas was crowned as the best airline in the world based on its safety rating and in-flight products rating. It was the first international airline to operate a round-the-world service, and was also among the first to pioneer technical breakthroughs such as long range operations for twin-engine planes. It has had a fatality free record in the jet era since 1951.

A number of different factors were considered for the rating, including audits from aviation governing bodies and lead associations, as well as government audits and the fatality records of the airlines.

Here are the ten safest airlines in the world (listed in alphabetical order except for Qantas).

 Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand [File photo]

Safety rating: 7/7

Product rating: 7/7

Country of Origin: New Zealand

Airline Code: NZ

History:

- Established as TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited) on April 26 1940

- The Australian government bought 50 percent of TEAL in 1953 and the New Zealand government bought the other half

- The New Zealand government bought back the Australian government's share in 1961

- Named Air New Zealand (ANZ) in April 1965

- In 1978 the formerly purely international Air New Zealand merged with the then domestic carrier, New Zealand National Airways Corporation to create the “new” Air New Zealand

- Joined the Star Alliance network in 1999

- When Ansett collapsed in 2001 (which at that stage was owned 100 percent by ANZ), the New Zealand government intervened to rescue the airline

(Source: airlineratings.com)