(CNN) — In a welcome change from the usual bad news about airline delays and mishaps, a recent report by aviation analytics company Cirium has highlighted the airlines and airports with the best on-time ratings around the world.
The overall award for Most Punctual Airline was won by Avianca, the Colombian airline, with the most punctual airline in South America being Copa, the national airline of Panama. All Nippon Airways (ANA) in Japan, Delta Air Lines in North America, Iberia Express in Europe, and Oman Air in the Middle East and Africa were recognized for their punctuality within their respective regions.
Digging deeper into the data, Cirium looked at several factors including on-time arrivals, flights tracked, and total flights taken. Avianca had 85.73% of on-time arrivals out of a total of 213,039 flights, while Delta and American Airlines in the US far surpassed the rest of the list in terms of total flights, with Delta’s on-time arrival rate at 84.72% and American’s at 80.61%. Qatar Airways and Japan Airlines also received high scores.
David White, senior director of advanced initiatives at Cirium, commented on the industry’s resilience in 2023, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Cirium also highlighted smaller, low-cost airlines such as Safair, Azul, Hong Kong Express, JetStar Japan, and Iberia Express.
Regarding airport awards, Cirium named Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in Minnesota as the best airport in the world for punctuality in 2023. Osaka International (ITM) in Japan and Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) in Ecuador were recognized as the most punctual medium-sized and small airports, respectively.
The full report also noted that factors such as weather, airport traffic, and staffing issues contribute to delays and are not always the fault of the airlines. Despite these challenges, the report emphasizes the impressive on-time performance metrics achieved by leading airlines and airports around the world.