Thomas said the past two years had been extremely difficult for airlines with Covid-19 slashing travel.
"Airline Ratings editors have particularly focused on the lengths airlines are undertaking to re-train pilots ahead of a return to service. Air New Zealand is a leader in this field with comprehensive retraining.
"Air New Zealand has also been a lead airline in many major operational safety advancements over the past 40 years," he added.
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran said it was humbled to receive the recognition, particularly given the high safety standards the airline industry holds itself to.
"The Air New Zealand promise is to take manaaki (care) further. To do that we have to take our approach to safety further. For us, it's not about safety first – it's about safety always. We want everyone to go home safely every day.
"Throughout the pandemic, the whole Air New Zealand team has been focused on protecting the health and safety of our people, customers and the wider New Zealand community."
Foran said it was the first airline in the world to ask customers flying on its domestic services to either be vaccinated or tested before boarding, and come February 1, will require all customers on its international services to be fully vaccinated too.
"The airline industry as a whole has adapted to keeping customers safe from Covid while delivering top customer service."
The ratings agency also named its top 20 safest airlines and top 10 safest low-cost airlines.
The top 20: Air New Zealand, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, TAP Portugal, SAS, Qantas, Alaska Airlines, EVA Air, Virgin Australia/Atlantic, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Lufthansa/Swiss Group, Finnair, Air France/KLM Group, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Emirates.
Thomas said its ratings took into account numerous critical factors that included an airline's crash and serious incident record, fleet age, audits from aviation's governing bodies and lead associations, government audits, operational innovation, Covid protocols, and balance sheet strength.
