Summary
- Safair is the most punctual low-cost carrier, with 90.81% of flights arriving on time in October.
- Jetstar Japan takes second place with an on-time performance of 86.94%.
- Norwegian Air Shuttle falls to third place with an on-time performance of 86.10% and plans to add 40 routes next summer.
The low-cost carrier market includes a range of carriers worldwide with various levels of service. One of the most defining metrics is how timely the carrier’s flights are. Looking at the month of October, which covered the end of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer season, there is just one carrier with nine out of ten flights arriving on time.
Safair soars above the competition.
According to Cirum, South Africa’s Safair had the most punctual arrivals out of 96,695 flights tracked. The carrier takes the lead once again for the month, with 90.81% of its flights arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time.
Photo: FlySafair
Last month, the company’s low-cost operations arm, FlySafair, revealed a livery update featuring a new navy blue strip on the tail alongside the existing pink and blue. October also brought the launch of four new routes. From Johannesburg, FlySafair launched services to Harare (daily), Victoria (three weekly), Livingstone, and Maputo, the latter two operating four times per week.
Jetstar jets into second
Jetstar Japan climbed to the second spot with an on-time performance of 86.94% across over 8,000 flights. The carrier works with other members of the Jetstar group to feed traffic across its domestic network. One such destination is Hokkaido’s second-largest city, Asahikawa.
The famous ski destination will receive direct service from Tokyo (Narita) next month, making Jetstar Japan the only LCC to operate the popular route. The group is also increasing its long-haul flights into Japan, announcing a Sydney-Osaka link today.
Next up is Norwegian
Norwegian Air Shuttle fell one spot in October, ceding the runner-up slot to Jetstar Japan and dropping to third place. On-time performance remained high, with 86.10% of tracked flights arriving within the allotted period. Overall, the airline said it carried 2.07 million passengers in October, up 9.6% from last year.
Photo: Norwegian.
Fresh off the press is the announcement that Norwegian is adding 40 routes next summer. The additions include 17 new routes from Denmark, nine each from Norway and Sweden, two new routes from Finland, and various new point-to-point connections.
Right at eighty-five
Next up are Iberia Express and Philippines AirAsia, which both landed more than 85% of flights on time. The two carriers also operated a similar number of flights. Iberia Express’s 3,510 segments narrowly edged out Philippines AirAsia and its 3,432 flights. The latter carrier experienced fewer cancelations, with 99.77% of its flights completed.
Photo: Sorbis | Shutterstock
With 85.07% of its flights arriving on time, Hong Kong Express ranks as the sixth most timely carrier. Notably, It is the only airline in the top ten not to record any flight cancellations in October.
The remaining carriers in the top ten included Azul at number seven. The Brazilian airline was the most punctual in South America, with 82.91% of its over 26,000 flights arriving on time. AirAsia follows in eighth place. North America’s most punctual LCC for the month was Spirit Airlines, the only carrier from the continent to make the list. In tenth place is Norwegian Air Sweden, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the number three entrant.