Brazilian airline Azul Brazilian Airlines was the most punctual airline in the world in 2022 – operating 279,722 flights last year and reaching 88.93% punctuality in their arrival times, British data analytics company Cirium has concluded after analyzing aviation data around the world in the last year.
Spain's Iberia Airlines, which also flies to Israel, is the most punctual in Europe this year per the report, while Delta Airlines is the most punctual in North America.
The data Cirium analyzed was collected from approximately 600 sources of real-time flight information and includes the airlines themselves, airports, global distribution systems, location data, civil aviation authorities, air navigation service providers and the Internet.
Their performance review on airlines for the year is known as the global gold standard for airline and airport performance in the world. The report will be published later this week and will contain results for all different categories of airline data and information.
How punctual is Israel's El Al airline?
The past year has been challenging in the field of aviation around the world – especially in Europe, where many airlines and airports experienced delays, disruptions and challenges in air travel and luggage transport, among other facets of air travel. Despite these difficult conditions, however, many airlines and airports have excelled.
Delta Airlines won the Cirium Platinum Award for global operational excellence for the second year in a row. The award considers a number of factors, including punctuality in takeoff and landing, operational complexity and an airline's ability to limit the impact of flight disruptions for its passengers.
Delta Airlines was awarded the most punctual airline in North America, while Azul, which won the global award for most punctual, was also named the most punctual airline in South America. Thai AirAsia is the most punctual in the Asia-Pacific region, while Oman Air was named the most punctual in the Middle East and Africa region with 29,631 flights and 91.38% accuracy percentage.
Israel's El Al airline ranked in the top 10 most punctual companies in the Middle East and Africa (9th place) with 23,274 flights in 2022 and 69.80% punctuality percentage. Royal Jordanian placed in second place, while Emirates Arlines – which started flying to Israel last year – came in fourth place. Royal Air Morocco ranked eighth regionally.
Japanese airlines also achieved good results, as low-cost carrier StarFlyer was named the most punctual low-cost carrier in the world, while Tokyo's Handa Airport was declared the best airport in the world for on-time departures.
What is considered a punctual flight?
Cirium defines a flight that departs on time as one that arrives within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival at the gate at the destination airport. For an airport to be considered "punctual,” a flight departing from said airport must do so within 15 minutes of its scheduled departure time.
"Ramping back up operations so quickly after an enforced slowdown is not easy to do and the top-ranked airlines and airports in Cirium’s 2022 On-Time Performance Review deserve their recognition for this well-orchestrated achievement."
Jeremy Bowen
"Ramping back up operations so quickly after an enforced slowdown is not easy to do and the top-ranked airlines and airports in Cirium’s 2022 On-Time Performance Review deserve their recognition for this well-orchestrated achievement," Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium, declared.