Budget Airlines With the Best On-Time Record

Special Report

Published: January 18, 2019 5:28 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 12:23 pm

Two of the most important factors when booking a flight is the price and the airline’s reputation, specifically its track record for on time departures and arrivals. Ideally, a traveller does not have to choose one over the other. After all, who likes to spend more time than necessary at airports?

To achieve the goal of finding a discounted plane ticket many people turn to low-cost carriers — and the industry is booming. The share of budget airlines flights, out of total flights, rose from 19% in 2007 to 30% in 2016, according to the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. The share of flights with traditional airlines, meanwhile, decreased from 59% in 2007 to 53% in 2016.

Research and advisory company Allied Analytics estimated the low-cost carrier market value at almost $118 billion in 2016 and is projected to nearly double in size by 2023, reaching nearly $208 billion. Many countries nowadays have low-cost airlines that offer international flights as well as domestic. So if you’re traveling, make sure to check any offers from budget airlines at both your point of origin and destinations.

If you happened to be in the United States, you may want to consider Spirit Airlines. It improved its on-time record and moved five spots globally over 2017, finishing ninth best among global low-cost carriers, and the best among all American budget airlines, according to OAG, an air travel intelligence company based in the United Kingdom.

Overall, airlines in Latin America did especially well in terms of punctuality, according to John Grant, senior analyst with OAG. European airlines, on the other hand, fared poorly. “The air traffic control strikes were very damaging to on-time performance [of European airlines],” he explained. This is why Ryanair, the continent’s biggest budget airline, did not even make the top 20 of the low-cost carriers with the best on-time record.

Click here to see the budget airlines with the best on-time record.

To identify the budget airlines with the best on-time record, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed OAG’s annual report on airlines and airports’ performance. The information is based based on 58 million flight records using full-year data from 2018. In order to be considered, all airlines’ schedules database must contain flight status data for at least 80% of all flights. Flights are considered on time if they depart or arrive within 15 minutes of estimated scheduled time. Cancellations were counted as being late. Data for cargo and charter flights were excluded.

Information of the country of origin of each airline and its frequent international destinations was gathered from the carriers’ sites.

20. Air Busan
> On-time performance in 2018: 74.1%
> Country of origin: South Korea
> Frequent international destinations: Japan, China, Vietnam, Philippines

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19. Jetstar Airways
> On-time performance in 2018: 74.3%
> Country of origin: Australia
> Frequent international destinations: Vietnam, Hawaii, Indonesia

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18. Norwegian Air Shuttle
> On-time performance in 2018: 74.6%
> Country of origin: Norway
> Frequent international destinations: European Union, Dubai, Morocco

17. Westjet
> On-time performance in 2018: 76.3%
> Country of origin: Canada
> Frequent international destinations: United States, Caribbean, Mexico

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16. Flynas – National Air Services
> On-time performance in 2018: 76.8%
> Country of origin: Saudi Arabia
> Frequent international destinations: Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates

15. Allegiant Air
> On-time performance in 2018: 76.9%
> Country of origin: United States
> Frequent international destinations: All over the United States

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14. Virgin America
> On-time performance in 2018: 77.6%
> Country of origin: United States
> Frequent international destinations: West Coast

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13. Southwest
> On-time performance in 2018: 78.2%
> Country of origin: United States
> Frequent international destinations: Mexico, Caribbean

12. AirAsia India
> On-time performance in 2018: 79.0%
> Country of origin: India
> Frequent international destinations: 19 destinations in India

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11. GOL Linhas Aereas
> On-time performance in 2018: 79.7%
> Country of origin: Brazil
> Frequent international destinations: Spain, Scandinavia, United States

10. Sky Airline
> On-time performance in 2018: 79.9%
> Country of origin: Chile
> Frequent international destinations: Argentina, Uruguay, Spain

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9. Spirit Airlines
> On-time performance in 2018: 80.8%
> Country of origin: United States
> Frequent international destinations: Caribbean, Mexico, Colombia

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8. Thai AirAsia
> On-time performance in 2018: 81.2%
> Country of origin: Malaysia and Thailand
> Frequent international destinations: Indonesia, China, Japan

7. IndiGo
> On-time performance in 2018: 81.7%
> Country of origin: India
> Frequent international destinations: United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Malaysia

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6. Transavia
> On-time performance in 2018: 82.0%
> Country of origin: Netherlands
> Frequent international destinations: Greece, Italy, Spain

5. Volaris
> On-time performance in 2018: 82.0%
> Country of origin: Mexico
> Frequent international destinations: United States, Nicaragua, Costa Rica

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4. Mango
> On-time performance in 2018: 82.9%
> Country of origin: South Africa
> Frequent international destinations: Only in South Africa

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3. Solaseed
> On-time performance in 2018: 82.9%
> Country of origin: Japan
> Frequent international destinations: Only in Japan

2. Jetstar Asia
> On-time performance in 2018: 84.1%
> Country of origin: Singapore
> Frequent international destinations: China, Indonesia, Cambodia

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