Canary Islands flights: SAS tops both punctuality rankings

In October, SAS was the most punctual airline on flights to the Canary Islands and topped both rankings for departures from Canary Islands airports. The analysis also covers inter-island connections and compares 37 airlines.

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British Airways recorded the longest average delay in October. The airline’s 116 flights departed, on average, 31 minutes and 13 seconds late. The on-time departure rate – that is, the proportion of departures with a delay of no more than 15 minutes – stood at 52.6 per cent. British Airways had already been running 20 minutes and 31 seconds late in September; the rate has since fallen by 0.5 percentage points to this figure.

Luxair, too, fell well short of its flight schedule. Its 52 flights took off an average of 17 minutes and 29 seconds late, with the on-time departure rate standing at 57.7 per cent. At the other end of the scale, a single airline tops both rankings.

Flights to the Canary Islands: Wizz Air Malta sees a significant drop in punctuality

Wizz Air Malta recorded the biggest decline compared with September. In October, the airline’s flights departed on average 27 minutes and 38 seconds late, compared with 12 minutes and 13 seconds late the previous month. Its on-time departure rate for 57 flights fell from 82.6 per cent to 50 per cent, the lowest figure of the month.

Conversely, TUI made the greatest improvement. The group’s flights were, on average, 13 minutes and 48 seconds late in October, compared with 21 minutes and 54 seconds late in September. The on-time performance rate rose from 56.8 per cent to 69.8 per cent.

SAS tops both punctuality rankings

SAS tops both rankings and, on average, departed just seconds behind schedule. Beyond that, the figures vary: Volotea and Iberia swap second and third place. Neos remains in the top five for average deviation, but does not feature among the top ten for on-time performance. Transavia France and Norwegian, meanwhile, achieve high on-time performance rates, but do not feature in the top ten for deviation.

In Iberia’s case, there is a further point that neither of the two rankings captures: no other airline cancelled as many flights, with 6.8 per cent cancelled. That the two metrics can produce different frontrunners was already shown by the analysis of routes within Germany in September. Then, TUIfly led on deviation, whilst Corendon Europe led on the cancellation rate.

Comparison of flights to the Canary Islands by deviation and on-time performance rate

The ten airlines with the lowest average deviation from the flight schedule in October:

Rank	Airline	Average deviation	Ratio	Flights
1	SAS	5 seconds late	92 per cent	113
2	Volotea	4 minutes and 59 seconds late	87.9 per cent	58
3	Iberia	7 minutes and 13 seconds late	89.9 per cent	74
4	Neos	7 minutes and 47 seconds late	73.3 per cent	45
5	Naysa	8 minutes and 6 seconds late	80 per cent	2718
6	Aer Lingus	8 minutes and 22 seconds late	77 per cent	152
7	Air Europa	8 minutes and 27 seconds late	76.7 per cent	235
8	Iberia Express	9 minutes and 11 seconds late	76.2 per cent	617
9	TUIfly	9 minutes and 33 seconds late	74.3 per cent	241
10	TUI Belgium	10 minutes and 42 seconds late	74.3 per cent	114

The ten airlines with the highest percentage of on-time departures in October:

Rank	Airline	Quota	Average deviation	Flights
1	SAS	92 per cent	5 seconds late	113
2	Iberia	89.9 per cent	7 minutes and 13 seconds late	74
3	Volotea	87.9 per cent	4 minutes 59 seconds late	58
4	Transavia France	83.6 per cent	11 minutes and 35 seconds late	61
5	Norwegian	83.6 per cent	11 minutes and 48 seconds late	123
6	Naysa	80 per cent	8 minutes and 6 seconds late	2718
7	Vueling	77.8 per cent	12 minutes and 6 seconds late	1,000
8	Aer Lingus	77 per cent	8 minutes and 22 seconds late	152
9	Air Europa	76.7 per cent	8 minutes and 27 seconds late	235
10	Ryanair	76.2 per cent	11 minutes and 46 seconds late	1806