The punctuality of aircraft in the world in general and in Europe in particular has been cut short by numerous strikes and staff shortages at airports, especially last summer, all within a context of strong recovery in world traffic.
In this difficult context, Spanish airlines once again perform well in terms of punctuality according to the latest annual report* “The On-Time Performance Review” prepared by Cirium, a century-old company specializing in data on the airline industry, travel and aviation.
In Europe, Iberia takes the crown with a punctuality rate of 85.87% for 91,154 flights operated, thus gaining 4 places in one year in the ranking. The national Iberian company dethrones another Spanish operator, Vueling, first in 2021, which ranks 4th with a rate of 83.80%.
Iberia versus Air Europa
The second position is also occupied by a Spanish company: Air Europa with a punctuality of 84.10% as well as the third with Iberia Express (83.80%).
Note the absence of any French company in this European Top 10, just like last year. Other European heavyweights such as KLM or Lufthansa are also conspicuous by their absence.
Austrain ranks fifth with 82% on-time, followed by Norwegian Air Shuttle (81.29%), ITA Airways (80.29%), Norwegian Air Sweden (79.03%), Finnair (75.16%) and Polish Airline (75.08%).
At a global level, it is the Brazilian company Azul that obtains the highest score with a punctuality of 88.93% on 279,222 flights made. A remarkable performance as the company was absent from the Top 10 last year.
Azul is ahead of the Japanese companies accustomed to monopolizing the top positions of this intercontinental list. ANA (1st last year) has a punctuality of 88.61% ahead of JAL with 88%.
Dethroned Japanese Airlines
The rest of the ranking is occupied by LATAM Airways (86.31%), Delta (83.63%), Avianca (83.48%), Emirates (81.30%), United (80.46%), Qatar Airline ( 78.32%) and American Airlines (78.29%). %).
“In 2022, airlines struggled to anticipate the sudden recovery in demand. They had been repeatedly disappointed during the pandemic when it appeared demand was picking up. When the recovery finally came last year, the industry, including airlines, airports, air navigation providers and other stakeholders – has been dealing with understaffing and insufficient capacity. Delays and cancellations have become problems,” said Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium.
In fact, over a year, on-time performance has deteriorated significantly even among the highest-ranked airlines. Thus, in 2021, the best European and world airlines had a punctuality of more than 90%.
*: Data is compiled from more than 600 real-time flight information sources. Il s’agit notamment des compagnies aériennes elles-mêmes, des aéroports, des systemes de distribution mondiaux, des données de position, des autorités de l’aviation civile, des fournisseurs de services de navigation aérienne, des partenariats de données exclusifs et d’ Internet. Cirium’s timely performance data is further supported by a fully independent Board of Advisors comprised of industry experts with an unbiased view of the aviation industry.
Source: BFM TV
