Flight cancellations are infinitely more annoying, of course, but even slight delays can throw your plans off if you’re in a rush. And while flight delays are incredibly common – in this day and age, kind of expected – not all airlines are on equal footing when it comes to punctuality. It helps to know which carriers have the best track record of timeliness; fortunately, Cirium, a global aviation analytics company, has pulled data to name and rank the most reliable airlines in the world.
Not only that, but Cirium has also analysed airports to give us a comprehensive picture of timely travel so you can make more informed decisions if you’re travelling on a tight timeline.
The top ten airlines have been ranked based on what percentage of their flights reach their destinations on time. It’s a simple metric, dictating a flight “on time” as long as it’s landed within 15 minutes of the original scheduled time.
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And it appears Brazilian low-cost carrier Azul Airlines is the world’s most on-time airline, slightly edging out Japanese carriers All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines, as well as fellow South American carrier LATAM Airlines.
According to Cirium’s data, Azul Airlines achieved an on-time performance of 88.93% in 2022, which inches above ANA at second place with 88.61% and Japan Airlines in the third slot with a clean 88%.
2019’s top performer, Aeroflot, had an 86.7% on-time performance, under normal industry conditions, so it appears overall at least timeliness has stepped up for some airlines post-pandemic.
Azul Airlines, which only recently celebrated 14 years in the industry, is a bit of a surprise seeing as it’s a LLC. Although shedding operational weight could be a solid reason why this particular carrier is such a top performer when it comes to the world’s most reliable airlines.
It’s less of a surprise to see Japanese airlines round out the top three. Almost every form of transit coming from Japan has an airtight reputation for punctuality. What is a surprise, however, is Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines slide into the top 10 over award-winning carriers like Qantas, Air New Zealand and Etihad Airways.
It’s also no surprise to see zero European airlines make the top ten. The continent has been the hardest hit when it comes to various industry issues, mostly credited to widespread staff shortages.
2022 was a troubling year for the aviation industry. Carriers were routinely hit by the widespread lifting of COVID restrictions, hit hard with a spike in demand for air travel with frequent lost baggage, numerous cancellations and stacks of angry customers the result.
Although as Cirium notes, “operations greatly improved as the industry added workers and adjusted capacity.”
“2023 appears to hold great promise for the aviation industry.”
Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen, but for now, at least we have a nice indication of what airlines will us to our destination on time.
The Top 10 Most Reliable Airlines In 2022
- Azul Airlines – 88.93%
- All Nippon Airways – 88.61%
- Japan Airlines – 88.00%
- LATAM Airlines – 86.31%
- Delta Air Lines – 83.63%
- Avianca – 83.48%
- Emirates – 81.30%
- United Airlines – 80.46%
- Qatar Airlines – 78.32%
- American Airlines – 78.29%
