Cirium: AEGEAN Among Europe’s Most On-Time Airlines

Photo source: Aegean Airlines

Greek carrier AEGEAN was among the top five airlines with the best on-time performance (OTP) in Europe for the second month in a row, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.

According to the data, the Greek airline ranked first among other airlines in Europe in January 2024 and third in February this year.

In January, which includes part of the holiday season, Aegean claimed the top spot with an OTP of 90.02 percent -a near 5-point increase over December – showing that the airline arrived on time (within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time).

With a near 4-point improvement over the previous month, Iberia Express took second place with an OTP of 89.54 percent, while Vueling Airlines took third place with an OTP of 87.36 percent.

February’s ranking

Source: Cirium

In Europe, the majority of airlines improved their OTP in February, while the total number of flights canceled decreased by 7 percent.

Aegean came in third with an OTP of 89.67 percent, and Austrian Airlines maintained its top-ranking position again that month with an OTP of 92.96 percent. Iberia Express remained in the second-place position with an OTP of 90.15 percent.

The top five closed with ITA Airways ranking fourth with an OTP of 89.32 percent and Vueling (5th) with an OTP of 89.11 percent.

Cirium’s report notes that with ongoing workforce issues facing the region, Europe had a significant 25 percent decrease in flight cancellations in January compared to December 2023. Most of the top-ranking airlines in the region made improvements in their OTP scores in January over December.

Cirium consumes and normalizes data related to flights, airlines, aircraft, prices, and passenger itineraries from more than 2,000 carefully curated sources.

AEGEAN expects a good year

Photo source: Aegean Airlines

AEGEAN will have an additional 1.1 million scheduled seats in 2024, with 800,000 on its international network and the remaining on domestic routes.

The airline recently announced that the additional seats will be added to its networks in Athens and Thessaloniki, increasing the number of seats available on its international network by 10 percent and its domestic network by 5 percent this year.

Earlier this year, the airline strengthened its position in the United Kingdom by adding a fourth flight to London’s Heathrow Airport and boosted its expansion in Europe by signing a bilateral codeshare agreement with German carrier Eurowings.

The Greek airline company in 2023 reached a new record high, offering 18.5 million seats—3.1 million more compared to 2022 – and expanding its network to include 180 destinations in 49 countries with 307 routes.