Business Wire

CIRIUM

29.12.2021 14:02:52 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
Delta Air Lines Named as the World’s Best Performing Airline of 2021; All Nippon Airways as the Most On-time Globally

Cirium, the aviation analytics firm, today released its On-Time Performance Review 2021, the global standard for airline and airport operational performance. Cirium awarded Delta Air Lines with the Platinum Award, recognizing the Atlanta-based carrier as the world’s best performing airline of the year for Operational Excellence.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211228005093/en/

The new annual award is presented to an airline with outstanding performance considering the complexity of the airline’s operation, volume of flights, diversity of its network and other key operational factors. The Platinum Award is based on a proprietary algorithm that considers an array of parameters and provides an output to compare airlines on a one-to-one basis as far as possible to ensure fairness, accuracy, and integrity.

“It was another challenging year for the aviation industry, however 2021 was certainly better than 2020, marking the start of the recovery,” said Jeremy Bowen, CEO, Cirium. “Delta Air Lines stood out this year when you consider the carrier’s size, network, and passenger delay minutes, as well as the number of completed flights. It’s an outstanding effort and achievement during a difficult period. All Nippon Airlines (ANA) is recognized as the most on-time airline in the world. Delta, ANA and the regional winners are congratulated.”

Cirium’s 2021 On-Time Performance Review reflects the second half of the year when flight volumes returned. Airlines globally operated nearly 25 million flights, a 10% increase from 2020, but still down 36% compared to 2019.

The report reviews the top performing airlines and airports globally and in specific categories.

Global Airlines
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is named as the most on-time airline in the Global category with 95% of its flights on time. The carrier was followed closely by Japan Airlines (JAL) with 94.1% — reflecting the high standard set by Japanese aviation when it comes to on-time performance. In third place was Aeroflot (91%), followed by LATAM (88.7%) and Delta Air Lines (87.8%).

North America
Delta Air Lines takes home the award for most on-time North American airline with 87.7% of its flights arriving on time. The carrier topped Alaska Airlines (81.7%) and American Airlines (80.5%).

Europe
Spanish IAG carriers — Vueling (92.1%), Iberia Express (91.8%) and Iberia (90.3%) — took three of the top five spots in the European category. Notably, Vueling has expanded internationally in 2021 with 65% of its third quarter capacity dedicated to international flights.

Asia Pacific
In the Asia Pacific, leading Japanese airlines ANA and JAL rank at the top. Airlines that operate a flight schedule consisting mainly of international flights wherein a state of near hibernation in Asia. Those carriers with a sizeable domestic market have fared better. This year’s Top 10 in Asia-Pacific is dominated by airlines with a significant domestic operation.

Latin America
Copa Airlines, an airline that was close to a complete shutdown at the start of the pandemic, is making a strong recovery and operating its expanding flight schedules at a very high level of on-time performance. The carrier won the Latin America category with 90.3% of its flights on time, followed by Aerolineas Argentinas (89.2%) and Azul (88.9%).

Middle East and Africa
South African Low-Cost Carrier, Safair, outperforms in the Middle East and Africa category as 96.4% of its flights were on time. The airline did not feature in the On-Time Performance Review 2019, however has expanded its international services to Mauritius — a holiday destination for South Africans — with focused operations. Royal Jordanian (89%) and Emirates (86.7%) rounded out the performers in the region.

Low-Cost Carriers
Solaseed Air, also a Japanese domestic operator and ANA affiliate, tops the Low-Cost Carrier category with 97.9% of its flights on time in 2021. The airline flies a network of 14 routes and has very nimble operations.

Top Global Airports
The report also identifies the world’s leading airports in on-time performance and Tokyo’s international airport, Haneda Airport, ranks as the most on-time airport globally. In 2021, 95.6% of the airport’s flights departed on time.

Cirium’s on-time performance reporting for airlines and airports is the longest-standing of such analysis in the industry, going back 13 years. Cirium resumed reporting in June 2021, as flight volumes returned, with regular monthly updates that help gauge the industry’s performance in getting passengers from point A to point B, on time. Cirium’s on-time performance analysis is based on flight data from over 600 sources of real-time flight information. For an airline to be on time, their flights must arrive at the airport gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

Click here to download the complimentary On-Time Performance Review 2021.

Ends

About Cirium
Cirium brings together powerful data and analytics to keep the world moving. Delivering insight, built from decades of experience in the sector, enabling travel companies, aircraft manufacturers, airports, airlines and financial institutions, among others, to make logical and informed decisions which shape the future of travel, growing revenues and enhancing customer experiences. Cirium is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The shares of RELX PLC are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX.

For further information please follow Cirium updates on LinkedIn or Twitter or visit www.cirium.com .

Link:

ClickThru

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

4th Digital Engineering Awards Celebrate Global Innovators, AI Trailblazers: Herald the Rise of Engineering Intelligence14.3.2026 17:46:00 CET | Press release

Developed in association with ISG and CNBC-TV18, the fourth edition draws more than 250 nominations from 90+ global companies The Digital Engineering Awards concluded its fourth edition at Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday, honoring technology pioneers and organizations for their contributions to technology solutions and AI advancements. The gala night presented by L&T Technology Services (BSE: 540115, NSE: LTTS) along with ISG as the knowledge and research partner and CNBC-TV18 as the media partner, hosted both industry leaders and individual changemakers from 17 countries across North America, Europe, and the rest of the world. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260314443410/en/ The 4th edition of the Digital Engineering Awards, in association with ISG, CNBC-TV18 and L&T Technology Services, drew more than 250 nominations from 90+ global companies A total of 258 nominations from leading organizations and engine

Venture Global Announces Final Investment Decision and Financial Close for Phase 2 of CP2 LNG13.3.2026 15:23:00 CET | Press release

$8.6 billion project financing for CP2 Phase 2 brings project’s total financing to $20.7 billionProject expected to make Venture Global the largest exporter of US LNGUnprecedented milestone of five FIDs in less than 7 years, with over $95 billion in capital markets transactions Today, Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE: VG) is announcing a final investment decision (FID) and successful closing of an $8.6 billion project financing for the second phase of the company’s third project, Venture Global CP2 LNG (CP2). When combined with the Phase One financing for CP2 announced July 2025, this milestone represents the largest standalone project financing in the U.S. bank market.The transaction garnered enormous interest from the world’s leading banks, resulting in over $19 billion of commitments for Phase Two in addition to the previous $34 billion of commitments for Phase One, and required no outside equity investment. “We are extremely proud to have taken FID on the second phase of CP2, our third g

NIQ Launches Beta of New AI-Powered Analytical Capabilities in Ask Arthur13.3.2026 12:00:00 CET | Press release

AI-guided analysis helps brands and retailers turn data into decision-ready insights NIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a global leader in consumer intelligence, has launched new AI-powered analytical capabilities in beta within Ask Arthur on the NIQ Discover platform. The expanded experience guides users through end-to-end analysis—helping them identify what matters in the data, understand why trends are occurring, and turn insights into clear, shareable narratives with recommended next steps. As organizations navigate increasing data complexity, the ability to move quickly from insight to action has become essential. Ask Arthur helps shorten analytical processes that once took days or weeks into minutes by surfacing the key drivers behind performance changes and generating decision-ready insights directly within Discover. By connecting analysis, explanation, and storytelling in a single experience, users can move seamlessly from understanding what is happening in the data to determining what to do nex

Reply at NVIDIA GTC: Digital Twins and Physical AI Driving the Next Stage of Industrial Value Creation13.3.2026 11:24:00 CET | Press release

Reply [EXM, STAR: REY] will be present at NVIDIA GTC from 16 to 19 March 2026 in San Jose, California, showcasing how companies can optimise production and logistics processes, scale robotics and sustainably increase industrial performance using digital twin technology and physical AI. The conference is regarded as the most important international meeting point for AI developers, researchers and decision makers. This year, more than 30,000 participants from over 190 countries are expected to attend. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260313000399/en/ By attending NVIDIA GTC, Reply is showcasing how digital simulation and physical automation are already being integrated in practice. Projects for the Otto Group and the industrial edge domain show how physical AI and precise digital twins work together to create new opportunities for industrial value generation. The focus will be on two concrete use cases that demon

Klarna Board Chair Michael Moritz Acquires 3.47 Million Shares for $50 Million13.3.2026 11:05:00 CET | Press release

Klarna Group plc (NYSE: KLAR) today discloses the following transactions by the Chair of its Board of Directors and Chief Product & Design Officer, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 3. Share Purchases Michael Moritz, Chairman, through an associated entity, purchased 3,472,845 ordinary shares between March 3 and March 11, 2026, at an aggregate consideration of $49,913,138.73. David Fock, Chief Product & Design Officer, purchased 27,000 ordinary shares on March 9, 2026, for an aggregate consideration of $388,552.14. Share Sales David Sandström, Chief Marketing Officer, sold 32,703 shares on March 9, 2026, pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, established in 2025. David Sykes, Chief Commercial Officer, sold 23,799 shares on March 13, 2026, pursuant to a separately established Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, established in 2025. Form 3 filings for all transactions are available on the SEC's EDGAR database atwww.sec.gov. Forward-Looking Statements This press release

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye