SAS was Europe’s most punctual airline in August, with 83.53% of its flights arriving on time, an increase of 9% of July.
SAS on top
Every month, aviation analytics firm Cirium tracks data from airlines and airports worldwide. In doing so, the company compiles a report with the most punctual airlines and airports throughout the world. In August, 
SAS
was the most punctual airline in Europe.
In July, SAS was in fifth place, and in August, climbed to the top spot. According to data, the airline’s on-time performance improved 9% from one month to the next. Copenhagen Airport, which is one of SAS’ most important bases, had more than a 6% increase over July.
Photo: Omar F Martinez | Shutterstock
Cirium’s report shows that 19.143 of SAS’ flights were tracked last month, representing 99.94% of the airline’s operations. SAS’ completion factor was 98.67%, and its on-time performance was 83.53%.
Of SAS’ three hubs, Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm, Copenhagen was the busiest. Copenhagen Airport had 3,835 scheduled SAS departures last month, while Oslo Airport had 2,994, and Stockholm Arlanda Airport had 2,948. Combining departures from all three airports, SAS had 9,777 flights and 1,521,151 seats on offer.
Iberia Express, Iberia’s regional operator took second place, and was not far behind SAS. In August, 83.43% of Iberia Express’ flights arrived on time. Cirium tracked 4,010 Iberia Express flights, accounting for 99.42% of the airline’s total operations. The rest of the top ten is below:
|
Airline |
On-time performance |
|---|---|
|
SAS |
83.53% |
|
Iberia Express |
83.43% |
|
Icelandair |
82.35% |
|
Vueling |
79.27% |
|
Norwegian |
78.56% |
|
Air Europa |
78.55% |
|
Iberia |
78.43% |
|
KLM |
78.06% |
|
Finnair |
76.66% |
|
Norwegian Air Sweden |
75.12% |
North America
In North America, 
Delta Air Lines
claimed the top spot, again. In August, 80.9% percent of Delta’s flights arrived on time, up more than eight percent over July, when the Crowdstrike outage caused a major dent in Delta’s operations. Cirium tracked 151,861 Delta flights last month, 99.98% of its total operations.
Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying
United was the second-most punctual in August, with 78.38% of on-time arrivals. The Chicago-based airline’s completion factor was 97.97% and Cirium tracked 142,087 flights. Southwest Airlines
rounded out the top three with an on-time performance rate of 78.17%.
|
Airline |
On-time performance |
|---|---|
|
Delta Air Lines |
80.90% |
|
United Airlines |
78.38% |
|
Southwest Airlines |
78.17% |
|
Alaska Airlines |
76.64% |
|
American Airlines |
74.08% |
|
Spirit Airlines |
70.44% |
|
Frontier Airlines |
67.59% |
|
JetBlue |
64.29% |
|
WestJet |
63.70% |
|
Air Canada |
61.12% |
In North America, Cirium tracked 776,132 flights in the top ten airlines. The total number of on-time arrivals was 71.53%.
Globally
Aeroméxico took the number one spot worldwide, with an almost 5% increase over July. In August, 86.54% of the airline’s flights arrived on time. Aeroméxico’s main hub Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juarez (MEX) was the most on-time airport in the global category, with 84.33%.
Photo: Angel DiBilio | Shutterstock
Saudia was the second-most on-time airline in August, with 84.6% of its flights arriving on time. Its hub King Khalid International Airport (RUH), also claimed the second spot in the global airports category.
The top five airlines in August were Aeroméxico, Saudia, avianca, Azul Linhas Aéreas, and LATAM Airlines.