Qatar Airways

Is Qatar Airways safe?

Yes. Qatar Airways has never had a fatal accident or lost an aircraft in flight, and almost its whole fleet is current-generation widebodies. We score it 87, higher than Emirates. The points it drops come from a take-off accident at Miami in 2015, a string of turbulence injuries, and the war that shut Doha's airspace in 2026.

The numbers that matter:

• Fatal accidents: none.
• Aircraft written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary: two, both on the ground during maintenance, with no one on board.
• Fleet: 249 passenger aircraft and 30 freighters at 31 March 2026, according to the group's annual results.

What is in Qatar Airways' accident record?

The Aviation Safety Network database has no fatal event for the airline. Its two write-offsHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary both happened on the ground: an Airbus A300 gutted by fire while in a maintenance hangar in Abu Dhabi in April 2007, and an A321 whose cabin roof burned through when an inflight-entertainment antenna caught fire on a remote stand at Doha in December 2017.

The closest Qatar Airways has come to a serious crash was flight QR778 on 15 September 2015. A Boeing 777-300ER entered the runway at Miami at an intersection, which left about 2,600 metres instead of the full 3,968 metres. It struck approach light masts beyond the runway end as it climbed out, damaging its belly, and then flew the whole 13-hour trip to Doha before anyone found the damage. Doha News reported at the time that it was unclear why the electronic flight bag used for take-off calculations had not caught the problem. No one was hurt.

Turbulence: the most likely way to get hurt

Most of the airline's recent accidents are turbulence injuries:

• December 2016, QR708: a 777-300ER hit turbulence over the Atlantic north of the Azores.
• May 2023, QR960: severe turbulence over the Bay of Bengal on the way to Bali injured several people, and the flight diverted to Bangkok.
• May 2024, QR017: a Boeing 787-9 from Doha to Dublin hit turbulence over Türkiye during the meal service. Six passengers and six crew were hurt, and eight people went to hospital.

A flight sold as QR1499 that hit severe turbulence over Ethiopia in May 2024 was an A330 leased with crew from Oman Air. These events count as accidents under ICAO rules, and we include them, but they say more about weather over long routes than about the airline's standards.

The A350 grounding and other incidents

The most unusual safety story was a fight about paint. In August 2021, the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) ordered A350s grounded because the fuselage surface under the paint was degrading faster than expected; by December, 21 aircraft were parked. Airbus said EASA had found no airworthiness effect, Qatar Airways sued in London, and the two settled in February 2023 without either admitting liability. Grounding aircraft over a disputed defect is on the cautious side, and we do not count it against the airline.

How modern is the fleet?

At 31 March 2026, the airline had 249 passenger aircraft, mostly Boeing 777s, 787s, Airbus A350s and a small A380 fleet. Between February and March 2026 it retired its last 15 A330 passenger jets, citing fuel costs and the disruption from the war; Travel Extra, citing Reuters, put the fleet at 239 passenger aircraft and 30 freighters in October. In May 2025 it ordered up to 210 more Boeing widebodies, including 130 787s and 30 777-9s on firm order. Qatar Airways does not put an average fleet age in the results we could open, but its oldest types are now the early 777s and A380s.

Who oversees Qatar Airways?

Qatar holds Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary in the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (April 2025 list), and no Qatari airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary (June 2026 edition). As an IATA member, Qatar Airways is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary. The QCAA publishes fewer investigation reports than European boards do, which is why oversight scores 88 rather than in the 90s.

The 2026 Iran war and Doha

Qatar closed its airspace on 28 February 2026, the day the US and Israel struck Iran. Iran fired missiles and drones at Doha in the following days; Qatar's defence ministry said it was targeted by 14 ballistic missiles and four drones on 5 March. On 6 March the QCAA reopened the airspace for evacuation and cargo flights only. Qatar Airways then ran a limited schedule through March. More than 2,000 flights at Hamad were cancelled in the first week. We found no report of damage to the airport.

Flying Qatar Airways safely

• Check the travel alerts page before leaving for the airport while the Gulf situation is unsettled. Closed airspace means cancellations, not risky flights.
• Keep your belt loosely fastened whenever you are seated, and stay in your seat during meal service if the seat-belt sign comes on. Turbulence is the main injury risk on this airline.
• Check which aircraft and operator you are flying. Some QR-numbered flights have used aircraft and crews leased from other airlines.

How we scored it

A clean fatal record (accident record 94) and a modern widebody fleet (88) carry the score. Turbulence injuries and the 2015 Miami strike (incidents 78) and the 2026 war around Doha (environment 70) pull it down. Compare Etihad Airways (87) and Air Arabia (84), the other Gulf airlines we score that have no fatal accident.