Skift Take

This is encouraging news for Asia-Pacific carriers but plenty still rank towards the bottom of the overall list with enormous average delay times. We're looking at you, Emirates.

Iberia and Japan Airlines ranked the highest among global airlines in on-time performance for January 2015 with Asia-Pacific carriers accounting for nearly half of the carriers in the top 20 and taking many of the top spots.

The top 20 airlines include nine Asia-Pacific carriers, eight European carriers, two Latin American carriers and one U.S. carrier (Delta Air Lines) based on statistics for last month from air travel consulting firm FlightStats. Iberia, which topped the ranking, had an average delay time of 37.59 minutes (92.72% of flights on-time), one of the shortest average delays while JAL’s was 38.59 minutes (86.54% of flights on-time).

Emirates, despite all the praise it gets for its in-flight experience, had the longest average delay time (159.23 minutes) for all 49 airlines tracked and only 66.15% of its flights arrived on- time.

Amongst the top 20, KLM had the longest average delay time (73.86 minutes) and 81.28% of its flights arrived on-time. Korean Air had the shortest average delay time (31.29 minutes) even though it’s at the bottom of the top 20 list.

American Airlines, United Airlines, U.S. Airways and Air Canada were the only other North American carriers who made the list. When only looking at the top 10 ranking for on-time performance for North American carriers, what’s notable is that Alaska Airlines ranked second, usually ranking at the top for U.S. airlines. Last month Alaska fell behind Delta Air Lines at number one and in front of Virgin America.

Top 20 Global Airlines for Best On-Time Performance for January 2015

Rank Airline % On-Time % Delayed Avg. Delay Time (Minutes) % of Flights Tracked Scheduled Flights Airline That Held This Position in December 2014
1 Iberia 92.72% 7.28% 37.59 Mins 97.12% 13,750 Iberia
2 JAL 86.54% 13.46% 38.95 Mins 99.91% 22,185 Saudia
3 Austrian Airlines 86.43% 13.57% 39.49 Mins 99.86% 7,951 Aeroflot
4 Singapore Airlines 85.29% 14.71% 37.75 Mins 99.96% 7,148 Gulf Air
5 Qantas Airways 85.24% 14.76% 44.03 Mins 99.52% 21,694 Austrian Airlines
6 Air Astana 84.94% 15.06% 58.72 Mins 91.73% 3,372 Delta Air Lines
7 Aeroflot 84.91% 15.09% 55.94 Mins 85.81% 22,591 JAL
8 ANA 84.81% 15.19% 36.93 Mins 97.48% 37,315 KLM
9 TAM Linhas Aereas 84.68% 15.32% 42.49 Mins 80.12% 24,095 Qatar Airways
10 S7 Airline 84.58% 15.42% 62.61 Mins 88.36% 7,060 Singapore Airlines
11 Air Berlin 84.15% 15.85% 41.30 Mins 98.84% 12,891 Air Berlin
12 Lufthansa 83.49% 16.51% 34.79 Mins 99.05% 37,217 Lan Airlines
13 SAS 83.25% 16.75% 37.65 Mins 94.37% 20,525 ANA
14 Saudia 83.19% 16.81% 49.42 Mins 94.19% 16,641 SAS
15 Delta Air Lines 82.88% 17.12% 64.97 Mins 99.67% 145,993 Lan Linhas Aereas
16 Avianca 82.17% 17.93% 46.60 Mins 99.31% 22,826 S7 Airlines
17 Alitalia 81.65% 18.35% 45.45 Mins 99.92% 15,401 Qantas Airways
18 KLM 81.28% 18.72% 73.86 Mins 99.43% 17,013 LOT-Polish Airlines
19 Qatar Airways 81.17% 18.83% 61.13 Mins 66.83% 12,921 Lufthansa
20 Korean Air 80.02% 19.98% 31.29 Mins 99.66% 12,215 U.S. Airways

Source: FlightStats

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Tags: iberia, jal, on-time

Photo credit: The Spanish carrier, Iberia, was the most on-time carrier in the world last month. Iberia

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