Qantas continues to lead the world’s airlines in safety, with no fatalities in the jet era.

And that record is no accident.

Over its 93-year history, the airline has amassed an extraordinary record of firsts in safety and operations.

In 2008 – in its successful defence to the British Advertising Standards Association of its claim that it is the world’s most experienced airline – Qantas was able to list 30 notable industry-leading achievements.

It included the wartime operation from Perth of what was then – and still is – the world’s longest air route by elapsed time to Colombo in Sir Lanka.

This service, using Catalina flying boats, took about 28 hours non-stop and was performed in radio silence to avoid detection by the Japanese.

The aircraft made 271 crossings, carrying 858 passengers more than one million miles, without an accident. The flights ended on July 18, 1945.

Qantas was the first international airline to operate an around-the-world service with its Lockheed Super Constellations in 1958 and the first outside the US to take delivery of the Boeing 707 in 1959.

The Australian airline was also the first to pioneer a series of technical breakthroughs, including long- range operations for twin-engine planes and the development of the “future air navigation system”.

In 1962, Qantas was a leader in using the flight data recorder to monitor plane and, later, crew performance.

Only six parameters were available, unlike today’s FDRs that monitor 500 on the most advanced planes.

Qantas has also been a leader in many recent cockpit innovations, including automatic landings using a global navigation satellite system and precision approaches around mountains in cloud.

Dubbed GLS and RNP, this is leading technology.

Qantas was also a lead airline with real-time monitoring of its engines across its fleet using satellite communications, which has enabled the airline to detect problems before they become major safety issues.

On AirlineRatings.com, Qantas gets the highest safety rating of seven stars. It is also one of only 10 airlines that gets a seven-star rating for in-flight service as well as safety.