UK carriers have failed to keep up with rivals as Iberia was named as the European leader for airline on-time performance in 2022.
Spanish airlines took the top four places in the ranking of the best performing in Europe, headed by Iberia, Air Europa, Iberia Express and Vueling.
But no UK airline or airport made the top rankings for punctuality, according to the listings released by aviation data firm Cirium.
Azul Brazilian Airlines was ranked as the world’s most punctual carrier with 88.93% of flights on time, just ahead of All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines.
Delta Air Lines received a platinum award for the second successive year for “global operational excellence”.
The award considers a number of factors including on-time performance, operational complexity and an airline’s ability to limit the impact of flight disruption to its passengers.
The results come against a backdrop of challenging operations across the world as Covid travel restrictions started to be lifted, with many airlines and airports in Europe in particular experiencing delays, disruption and resource issues.
Airlines had difficulty anticipating the sudden recovery in demand. Despite numerous false starts, when the recovery finally came, the industry – including airlines, airports, air navigation providers and other stakeholders – struggled with understaffing and insufficient capacity, according to Cirium.
The firm defines an on-time flight as one that arrives within 15 minutes of the scheduled gate arrival. For an airport, it is defined as departing within 15 minutes of its scheduled departure.
Chief executive Jeremy Bowen said: “Ramping back up operations so quickly after an enforced slowdown is not easy to do and the top-ranked airlines in Cirium’s 2022 On-Time Performance Review deserve their recognition for this well-orchestrated achievement.
“Congratulations to Delta Air Lines for its excellent performance as well as Iberia for its success in Europe, getting its passengers to their destinations on time as the sector revived during 2022.”
The leading airlines in Europe:
Airline | On time ranking | On time arrival | Total flights |
| Iberia | 1 | 85.87% | 91,154 |
| Air Europa | 2 | 84.10% | 48,163 |
| Iberia Express | 3 | 83.80% | 35,665 |
| Vueling | 4 | 82.04% | 197,546 |
| Austrian Airlines | 5 | 82.00% | 95,708 |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | 6 | 81.29% | 71,561 |
| ITA Airways | 7 | 80.29% | 91,841 |
| Norwegian Air International | 8 | 79.03% | 41,215 |
| Finnair | 9 | 75.16% | 45,727 |
| LOT – Polish Airlines | 10 | 75.08% | 85,902 |
Global leaders:
Airline | On time ranking | On time arrival | Total flights |
| Azul Brazilian Airlines | 1 | 88.93% | 279,722 |
| All Nippon Airlines | 2 | 88.61% | 162,370 |
| Japan Airlines | 3 | 88.00% | 165,981 |
| LATAM Airlines | 4 | 86.31% | 451,651 |
| Delta Air Lines | 5 | 83.63% | 1,004,684 |
| Avianca S.A. | 6 | 83.48% | 144,525 |
| Emirates | 7 | 81.30% | 137,589 |
| United Airlines | 8 | 80.46% | 789,200 |
| Qatar Airways | 9 | 78.32% | 152,377 |
| American Airlines | 10 | 78.29% | 1,076,100 |
The top performing global airports of 2022:
Airport | On time ranking | On time departure | Total flights |
| Haneda Airport | 1 | 90.33% | 373,264 |
| Kempegowda International Airport | 2 | 84.08% | 201,897 |
| Salt Lake City International Airport | 3 | 83.87% | 226,545 |
| Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport | 4 | 82.62% | 271,963 |
| Philadelphia International Airport | 5 | 82.54% | 233,777 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport | 6 | 81.95% | 276,346 |
| Indira Gandhi International Airport | 7 | 81.84% | 411,205 |
| Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | 8 | 81.04% | 383,250 |
| El Dorado International Airport | 9 | 80.72% | 273,721 |
| Charlotte Douglas International Airport | 10 | 80.68% | 457,871 |