World Airline Cancellation Report – Top Airlines And Regional Benchmarks

Here’s the most detailed and comprehensive airlines cancellation report. We analyzed global flight data and put together global benchmarks and regional details. Moreover, you’ll find the top 10 and flop ten airlines for each region. Here’s what’s contained in detail:

• World Regions Benchmark
• Global Analysis
  • Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
  • Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
• Spotlight on Asia
  • Regional Details
  • Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
  • Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
• Spotlight on Europe, Middle East & Africa
  • Regional Details
  • Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
  • Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
• Spotlight on North America
  • Regional Details
  • Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
  • Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
• Spotlight on Latin America
  • Regional Details
  • Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate
  • Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

Airline Cancellation Report — World Regions Benchmark

From a global perspective, the Asia-Pacific region by far shows the highest cancellation rate and the absolute number of cancellations. As we will see in the regional analysis, this is highly linked to Chinese airlines, which account for most cancellations. Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), and North America show a similar performance with slightly above 2% cancellation rates. However, due to the higher amount flights, North America reported a higher number of absolute cancellations.

Region	Included Airlines	Tracked Flights	Canceled Flights	Avg. Cancellation Rate	Median
Asia – Pacific	62	455,875	~77,500	17%	1.6
Europe, Middle East & Africa	88	426,470	~9,800	2.3%	1.1
North America	18	649,731	~13,000	2%	0.95
Latin America	22	111,476	~12,700	11.4%	1.15

Global — Airline Cancellation Report

Let’s get into the details and look at the top and flop airlines from a global perspective. Like the following regional analysis, we only included airlines that operated more than 500 flights in June 2021. Moreover, if airlines have an identical cancellation rate, we considered the number of flights: In the case of top airlines, we ranked the airlines with more flights higher, whereas in the case of flop airlines, we ranked the airline with fewer flights lower.

Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

Aeromexico wins the gold medal of the world’s airlines with the best cancellation rate. The Mexican flag carrier operated more than 12,500 flights in June 2021 and did not cancel a single one. However, the airlines represented in the global top 10 did not cancel a single flight. Accordingly, the ranking follows the number of performed flights.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	AM	Aeromexico	12,713	0.0%
2	PC	Pegasus Airlines	12,012	0.0%
3	AZ	Alitalia	6,177	0.0%
4	HA	Hawaiian Airlines	6,035	0.0%
5	OA	Olympic Air	4,804	0.0%
6	MS	Egyptair	3,621	0.0%
7	VH	Viva Air Colombia	3,198	0.0%
8	VN	Vietnam Airlines	3,110	0.0%
9	HV	Transavia	2,565	0.0%
10	AY	Finnair	2,304	0.0%

Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

Don’t get shocked when looking at the global flop ten airlines, but it seems like some carriers faced some major problems in June 2021. For example, Solomon Airlines had to cancel its entire flight schedule, resulting in a cancellation rate of 100%. However, China Express on position two reported even more shocking results: Out of more than 40,000 flights, the airlines operated approximately 40 — in other words, the airline canceled 39,960 flights in one month! China’s Spring Airlines is another negative example in terms of flight cancellations. Out of almost 14,000 flights, the Chinese carrier canceled approximately 11,5000.

Overall, Asian carriers seemed to struggle heavier than other region’s airlines in June. As a result, nine of the ten flop airlines with the highest cancellation rates are located in Asia – Pacific.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	IE	Solomon Airlines	536	100.0%
2	G5	China Express	40,037	99.9%
3	DZ	Donghai Airlines	1,666	99.5%
4	9C	Spring Airlines	13,843	83.2%
5	G8	GoAir	8,051	74.5%
6	2I	Star Peru	660	59.8%
7	OD	Malindo Airways	662	58.1%
8	JQ	Jetstar Airways	7,510	52.9%
9	JH	Fuji Dream Airlines	2,516	48.4%
10	TW	T’way Air	2,308	44.0%

Asia – Pacific — Airline Cancellation Report

Regional Details

For the Asia – Pacific regions, the report includes 62 airlines that operated 455,875 flights in June 2021. Approximately 77,500 flights have been canceled, resulting in a cancellation rate of 17%.

Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

Vietnam Airlines wins the gold medal of the Asian airline with the fewest cancellations in June 2021. Besides Vietnam Airlines, only Thai AirAsia achieved a cancellation rate of 0% in the Asia – Pacific region. However, the other carriers among the top 10 also show meager cancellation rates below 0.6%. Worth mentioning that four out of the ten top airlines are located in South Korea.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	VN	Vietnam Airlines	3,110	0.0%
2	FD	Thai Air Asia	532	0.0%
3	QG	Citilink	8,100	0.1%
4	SQ	Singapore Airlines	2,618	0.1%
5	OZ	Asiana Airlines	3,201	0.2%
6	RS	Air Seoul	829	0.2%
7	KE	Korean Air	3,933	0.3%
8	QZ	Indonesia AirAsia	1,055	0.3%
9	KC	Air Astana	4,009	0.4%
10	BC	Skymark Airlines	2,839	0.5%

Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

The flop 10 Asian airlines by cancellation rate are almost identical with the global flop 10. As already mentioned, Chinese carriers surprised us negatively. However, all other airlines in the top 10 show devastating cancellation rates.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	IE	Solomon Airlines	536	100%
2	G5	China Express	40,037	99.9%
3	DZ	Donghai Airlines	1,666	99.5%
4	9C	Spring Airlines	13,843	83.2%
5	G8	GoAir	8,051	74.5%
6	OD	Malindo Airways	662	58.1%
7	JQ	Jetstar Airways	7,510	52.9%
8	JH	Fuji Dream Airlines	2,516	48.4%
9	TW	T’way Air	2,308	44.0%
10	I5	AirAsia India	3,573	42.8%

Europe, Middle East & Africa — Airline Cancellation Report

Regional Details

For Europe, Middle East & Africa regions, the report includes 88 airlines that operated 426,470 flights in June 2021. Approximately 9,800 flights have been canceled, resulting in a cancellation rate of 2.3%.

Head over to the dedicated EMEA report for detailed results!

Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

Let’s start with the most impressive results: All airlines that are contained in the top 10 for Europe, Middle East and Africa, achieved a cancellation rate of 0%. Moreover, the list of airlines that didn’t cancel a single flight in that region is even bigger. Accordingly, we ranked the airlines concerning the number of operated flights. In this context, Pegasus Airlines wins the trophy of the EMEA airlines with the fewest cancellations in June 2021. Overall, European airlines dominate the top 10: Nine out of ten airlines are based in Europe, whereas only one is located in Africa.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	PC	Pegasus Airlines	12,012	0.0%
2	AZ	Alitalia	6,177	0.0%
3	OA	Olympic Air	4,804	0.0%
4	MS	Egyptair	3,621	0.0%
5	HV	Transavia	2,565	0.0%
6	AY	Finnair	2,304	0.0%
7	A4	Azimuth	2,096	0.0%
8	5N	Smartavia	1,911	0.0%
9	BT	Air Baltic	1,735	0.0%
10	DE	Condor	1,533	0.0%

Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

When looking at the other side of the medal, we have a mix of airlines from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. However, Switzerland’s Edelweiss Air reported the highest cancellation rate with 34.6%. Compared to the Asia – Pacific region, the overall cancellation rates of flop airlines are still way lower.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	WK	Edelweiss Air	1,048	34.6%
2	GF	Gulf Air	1,766	20.5%
3	EI	Aer Lingus	1,504	16.6%
4	3O	Air Arabia Maroc	1,098	12.2%
5	5Z	Cemair	646	10.5%
6	FZ	Flyduai	3,033	8.8%
7	TU	Tunisair	986	8.5%
8	FI	Icelandair	1,312	6.5%
9	AF	Air France	22,565	6.4%
10	G9	Air Arabia	1,719	6.1%

North America — Airline Cancellation Report

Regional Details

For the North American region, the report includes 18 airlines that operated 649,731 flights in June 2021. Approximately 13,000 flights have been canceled, resulting in a cancellation rate of 2.0%. Despite 13,000 cancellations, North America ranks first concerning cancellation rate based on the impressive number of overall flights.

Head over to the dedicated North American report for detailed results!

Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

Four of North America’s top 10 airlines achieved a cancellation rate of 0%. With more than 6,000 flights, Hawaiian Airlines was the busiest airline without any cancellation and ranked first. Sun Country, Silver Airways, and Canada’s Pacific Coastal Airlines also reported a cancellation rate of 0%. Besides that, it is impressive to see those big players, such as Delta Air Lines of United Airlines, achieved extremely low cancellation rates — although they operated an enormous amount of flights.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	HA	Hawaiian Airlines	6,035	0.0%
2	SY	Sun Country Airlines	1,978	0.0%
3	3M	Silver Airways	1,611	0.0%
4	8P	Pacific Coastal Airlines	905	0.0%
5	DL	Delta Air Lines	129,989	0.2%
6	WS	Westjet	3,904	0.5%
7	NK	Spirit Airlines	18,685	0.6%
8	AC	Air Canada	8,615	0.7%
9	B6	JetBlue	25,060	0.8%
10	UA	United Airlines	106,801	1.0%

Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

On the other side of the medal, two Canadian airlines lead the field. Air Inuit reported a cancellation rate of 13.4% and ranked first, followed by PAL Airlines with 7.0%. However, compared to other world regions, even the flop airlines achieved outstanding results.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	3H	Air Inuit	1,070	13.4%
2	PB	PAL Airlines	1,481	7.0%
3	WN	Southwest Airlines	100,689	3.2%
4	AA	American Airlines	173,464	2.5%
5	G4	Allegiant Air	12,525	2.1%
6	9K	Cape Air	9,608	1.8%
7	AS	Alaska Airlines	33,862	1.4%
8	F9	Frontier Airlines	13,449	1.4%
9	UA	United Airlines	106,801	1.0%
10	B6	JetBlue	25,060	0.8%

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Latin America — Airline Cancellation Report

Regional Details

For the Latin American region, the report includes 22 airlines that operated 111,476 flights in June 2021. Approximately 12,000 flights have been canceled, resulting in a cancellation rate of 11.4%. And to put the numbers in relation: Although Latin American airlines operated almost 550,000 flights less than airlines in North America, they had to cancel even more flights.

Top 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

All of the top 10 Latin American top 10 airlines achieved very good results. Moreover, six airlines didn’t cancel a single flight and subsequently achieved a cancellation rate of 0%.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	AM	Aeromexico	12,713	0.0%
2	VH	Viva Air Colombia	3,198	0.0%
3	UP	Bahamasair	817	0.0%
4	JA	Jetsmart	786	0.0%
5	TX	Air Caraibes	616	0.0%
6	XL	LATAM Ecuador	530	0.0%
7	CM	Copa Airlines	5,333	0.1%
8	VW	Aeromar	1,251	0.2%
9	G3	GOL	8,206	0.3%
10	AV	Avianca	10,089	0.6%

Flop 10 Airlines By Cancellation Rate

When looking at the flop ten airlines in Latin America, we find light and shadow. The top three play in their own league with cancellation rates above 30%. Besides that, we have some carriers with almost 10% cancellation rates. Nevertheless, LATAM and Vivaaerobus on positions nine and ten didn’t perform poorly and achieved cancellation rates of 1.7%, respectively 1.3%.

Rank	IATA	Airline	No. Flights	Cancellation Rate
1	2I	Star Peru	660	59.8%
2	KX	Cayman Airways	617	38.0%
3	JY	Intercaribbean Airways	1,577	34.7%
4	H2	Sky Airline	1,719	9.8%
5	YQ	TAR Aerolineas	861	9.4%
6	AR	Aerolineas Argentinas	1,515	5.9%
7	BW	Caribbean Airlines	528	3.9%
8	BB	Seaborne Airlines	1,010	2.6%
9	LA	LATAM	20,049	1.7%
10	VB	Vivaaerobus	8,305	1.3%

Used Data

The shown information is based on OAG data and internal data sources. Moreover, the displayed results in terms of flights and cancelation rates reflect data for June 2021. On top of that, regional rankings only included airlines that operated more than 500 flights in June. However, the global benchmark includes all tracked flights.

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