Avianca and Delta top 2023 global airline punctuality rankings

Colombian airline Avianca was the world's most on-time carrier in 2023, with Spain's Iberia Express ranked best in Europe.

Aviation analytics business Cirium, which compiled the rankings, said Delta Air Lines was the best when it came to "overall operational excellence."

The most punctual airline in Asia was All Nippon Airways (ANA), with Oman Air best in Africa and the Middle East. Delta was top of the pile in North America and Copa Airlines the leader when it came to punctual flights in South America.

Delta operated over 1.6 million flights in 2023, far more than the other winners, of which ANA was next busiest with over 300,000 take-offs.

Minneapolis-St. Paul in the US was the best airport to travel from last year when it came to flights leaving on time, Cirium found, with over 84% of the almost 290,000 departures going wheels-up within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time.

Other carriers to feature in the global and regional top 5 lists were Brazil's Azul, the second-best globally, and Qatar Airways, which was fourth-best in Africa and the Middle East. Iberia, Austrian Airlines and Poland's LOT were among the top 5 European carriers.

American Airlines, which operated almost 2 million flights last year, with 80% of them leaving as scheduled, came third in North America, followed by two rival US giants in United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Avianca's performance came despite it giving up on its attempt to buy up low-cost carrier Viva in a deal that was opposed by regulators. Cirium praised Avianca for adapting to the disappointment by "adding more seats to its A320 aircraft, expanding its network, and lowering prices."

2023 was the busiest year by far for airlines and airports since before the Covid pandemic, with global passengers reaching over 98% in October of the same month in 2019, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) data.