Dhaka, Jan. 4 -- Qantas Airways has been named the safest airline in the world on a Top 20 list published by AirlineRatings.com, followed by Air New Zealand and Taiwan's Eva Airways.

Singapore Airlines came in sixth, Cathay Pacific Airways ninth and Virgin Australia Holdings 10th.

AirlineRatings.com takes into account factors including audits by governing and industry bodies, crash and serious incident record, profitability and fleet age.

Separately, the Aviation Safety Network said earlier this week that the number of fatal aviation accidents in 2019 rose above the five-year average to 20, with more than half occurring in North America.

The 20 crashes killed 283 people, with the bulk of the deaths coming from the Ethiopian Airlines d...