Do you remember the time when your flight was delayed, causing frustration and stress while being stuck at the departure gate or the airport? Passengers place a big importance on punctuality when traveling so that their plans are not disrupted. Delays and lateness tend to reflect badly on airlines so they always try their best to be on time.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium has announced its annual On-Time Performance Review that ranks the most punctual airlines of 2023 based on information collected from more than 600 sources of real-time flight information. These include the airlines, airports, global distribution systems, positional data, civil aviation authorities, air navigation service providers, proprietary data partnerships and the internet.
An on-time flight is defined as a flight that arrives within 15 minutes of the scheduled gate arrival.
Considering the travel chaos which beset airlines and passengers since the pandemic, “airlines steered through the year’s operational hurdles with exceptional performance. Their relentless pursuit of efficiency and punctuality is commendable as we venture into 2024, a year brimming with promise for the aviation sector,” Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium.
The most punctual global airline of 2023 is Columbia’s flag carrier, Avianca Airlines, based in Bogota, with 85.73% on-time for over 210,000 flights. Avianca filed for bankruptcy in 2020 during the pandemic. As part of its post-bankruptcy restructuring, Avianca has transformed itself from a full-service airline to a low-cost carrier.
Brazilian low cost airline Azul was the second-best global airline for on-time performance, with 85.51% for over 310,000 flights arriving on time. Qatar Airways was third with 85.11% on-time arrivals for over 183,000 flights and Delta was ranked fourth with 84.72% on-time arrivals. The flag carrier of Spain, Iberia, was the fifth most punctual global airline.
Japanese airlines clinched the first and second rankings for the most on-time airlines in Asia Pacific. In first place was All Nippon Airways (ANA) with 82.75% on-time arrivals for over 302,000 flights. In second place was Japan Airlines with 82.58% on-time arrivals for over 308,000 flights. They were followed by Thai AirAsia, IndiGo and Air New Zealand.
For North America, Delta Air Lines topped the list for on-time arrivals with 84.72% for its more than 1.6 million flights. Alaska Airlines placed second, followed by American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
Delta Air Lines was also honored with the Cirium Platinum Award for the third year running, a demonstration of its commitment to operational performance and minimizing passenger disruption.
In Europe, the most punctual airlines in 2023 were Iberia Express, Iberia, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle.
The other winners for their regions were Oman Air for the Middle East and Africa and Copa in Latin America.
