Cirium: World’s Most On-Time Airlines and Airports in May

Avianca SA, Colombia’s flag carrier and the world’s second-oldest extant airline after KLM, and the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport were the most punctual airlines and airport across the globe in May 2023, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.

To compile its On-Time Performance (OTP) Monthly Report, Cirium reviews the total number of flights in a given month (approximately 3 million) for every airport globally in an ordered list. Then, it looks at where the percentile demarcations fall, following a similar evaluation procedure for its OTP airlines report.

According to Cirium’s on-time performance data for May 2023, Avianca improved its on-time performance by almost 3 points in May, making it the top airline globally with an OTP of 89.51 percent.

Delta Air Lines closely followed with an OTP of 88.86 percent, showing a significant improvement of 5 points compared to the previous month. LATAM Airlines came in third place with an OTP of 88.23 percent.

In Europe, Norwegian Air Shuttle took the lead in May with an on-time performance (OTP) of 89.25 percent, surpassing the previous leader, LOT Polish Airlines, with an OTP of 88.68 percent. Iberia secured the third position with an OTP of 86.63 percent. Finnair and Austrian Airlines rounded up the top 5.

When it came to airports, data revealed that the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport came first with an OTP of 89.63 percent, followed by El Dorado International Airport (89.28 percent). Three US airports rounded up the top 5 globally: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) with 88.79 percent, Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) with 87.53 percent, and Philadelphia International Airport with 87.05 percent.

Oslo Airport Gardermoen was the most punctual airport in Europe with an OTP of 86.41 percent.

Finally, flight cancellations were down by 4.3 percent globally compared to April 2023, with European airports facing 7,600 cancellations in May, up by 1.8 percent.