Europe's Most Punctual Airlines In 2022

Breaking down the continent’s on-time performance.

With 2022 done and dusted, we can look back at the year’s top performers. We’ve already broken down North America’s winners. Thus, we now turn our attention to Europe’s airlines.

Spain dominates

Iberia impressed the industry with its punctuality in 2022. According to the Cirium 2022 On-Time Performance Review, the Spanish flag carrier had an on-time arrival record of 85.87% over 91,154 flights. This figure puts the airline at the top of the rankings.

Second to fourth place were also Spanish operators, with Air Europa, Iberia Express, and Vueling making the list. Austrian Airlines, Norwegian, ITA Airways, Finnair, and LOT – Polish Airlines rounded off the top ten.

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The below table summarizes Europe’s on-time winners:

Airline	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

Photo: Martin Leber/Shutterstock

Across the continents

Brazil’s Azul was the most on-time airline globally, with an on-time arrival ranking of 88.93% across 279,722 flights. Japan’s All Nippon Airlines (ANA) and Japan Airlines followed in second and third place, respectively. LATAM was fourth, while Delta Air Lines, which continues to impress when it comes to customer satisfaction, was in fifth.

While the likes of ANA and Delta achieved the global accolades, Iberia is taking the cake across the pond.

Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen shared the following in a statement:

“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 in Cirium’s 2022 On-Time Performance Review, as well as Iberia for its success in Europe, getting its passengers to their destinations on time as the sector revived during 2022.”

Looking ahead

The outstanding rebound in European air travel saw a long summer of disruptions throughout the continent. Delays and cancellations were rife across numerous cities as the industry struggled to cope with the high demand. As such, Europe’s carriers didn’t perform as well regarding punctuality compared to some key names around the world. Moreover, there were no European airports in the on-time top ten.

Therefore, Europe’s aviation market will be keen to address these factors in this new year. With recovery continuing, it will be trying to steady the ship throughout 2023.

What are your thoughts about the most punctual European airlines in 2022? What do you make of the overall list? Let us know what you think of the performances in the comment section.