Iberia and Air Europa 'most punctual' airlines in Europe

TWO Spanish airlines were found to be 'Europe's most punctual' in June, according to figures covering carriers across the continent.

The monthly flight performance report conducted by consultation firm Cirium found that of the 13,196 connections operated by Iberia last month, a total of 81.34% reached their destination at exactly the scheduled time, or earlier.

Iberia, owned by IAG – which also covers British Airways – is Spain's main State airline, and runs long-haul connections all over the world, as well as internal flights via its regional arm Air Nostrum.

Short-haul international carrier Air Europa, also Spanish, operated 5,176 flights in the month of June, of which 79.21% were on time or early.

This makes Iberia the most punctual airline in Europe for that month, and Air Europa the second-most punctual.

After the Spain-based top two, the third-most punctual airline in June was Norwegian Air Shuttle, with 72.8% of flights arriving on time or early.

Scandinavia occupied much of the top of the ranking – Finnair was fourth, with 71.1% of flights on time, followed by Norwegian Air International (68.6%) in fifth place, and the Danish group SAS seventh (66.1%).

Italian flagship carrier ITA Airways (Italia Trasporto Aereo) was sixth from top, with 66.3% of flights reaching their destination on time or ahead of schedule, whilst Air France was number eight (63.4%), Dutch airline KLM ninth (60.7%), and Greece's main carrier Aegan Airlines completing the top 10 with 60.3% of its flights on schedule or early.

The average on-time rating for the 119,121 flights operated by all carriers in the top 10 in June was 69%, meaning Spain's two – as well as Norwegian Air Shuttle and Finnair – were well above the standard figure.

Iberia is the only Spanish airline to figure in the world's top 10 most punctual – quite an achievement, given that it was up against élite global carriers backed by much greater capital and earning far higher profits.

Spain's flagship operator was named fifth-most punctual on earth in June, in a ranking topped by the Japanese airline ANA.

Back in March, anticipating a spike in summer demand, Iberia opted to increase its ground staff by between 5% and 10% above the number needed for its capacity.

Doing so was a strategy to help smooth the chaotic situations seen in European and US airports at the busiest time of year, and enable its flights to continue to arrive on schedule as much as possible.