Air China – Flights, Punctuality & Cancellations in 2021
Today, we continue the analysis of Asian airlines. After China Eastern Airlines and India’s IndiGo, we take a look at Air China. What to expect? Well, we took a deep dive into one of China’s most prominent airline and checked flight rankings, punctuality reports, and cancellation rates. Moreover, we benchmarked Air China’s flight performance against regional and global averages. So get prepared to get some insights about one of the world’s biggest airlines. Here’s what’s contained in detail:
Flight Analysis
Monthly Flight Overview
Global & Asian Ranking By Number of Flights
Pre-COVID Benchmark
Flight Punctuality
Monthly Punctuality Overview
Global & Asia Ranking By Punctuality
Flight Cancellations
Monthly Cancellation Overview
Global & Asian Ranking By Cancellation Rate
Air China – Flight Analysis
Let’s kick off the analysis with details about Air China flights from February to June 2021. Then, we also provide information on the carrier’s share in Asia traffic on top of the overall numbers. Moreover, we compare the airline’s ranking to other Asian and global airlines. Finally, and as the icing on the cake, we set Air China’s flight performance in 2021 into relation to pre-COVID results from 2019 — and we can already promise some exciting results!
Monthly Flight Overview
Compared to many other carriers from Europe (for example, Ryanair, Lufthansa, or British Airways), Air China had an excellent start into 2021. In February, the Chinese airline already operated more than 26,000 flights. However, March marked the month when Air China skyrocket its operations. Based on a flight growth of 50%, Air China operated more than 40,000 flights in March. Moreover, the carrier was able to increase the numbers in April and May steadily. Unfortunately, June was difficult for Air China, and traffic declined by 10%. Therefore, it will be interesting to see if Air China can rebound in July.
| Month | No. Flights | vs. prev. Month |
|---|---|---|
| February | 26,793 | |
| March | 40,375 | 50.6%  |
| April | 42,081 | 4.2% |
| May | 43,721 | 3.8% |
| June | 39,243 | 10.3%  |
| Avg. ’21 | 38,442 |
The below charts illustrates Air China’s traffic volume. Therefore, the chart on the right simply shows the plain traffic figures. On the other side, the chart on the left puts Air China’s traffic volume in relation to overall Asian traffic volume. Again it is impressive how Air China increased its share from below 7.5% to 10% in May.
Domestic, Asian & Globa Ranking By Flight Volume
The table below shows Air China’s ranking by the number of flights related to domestic, Asian, and global airlines. Worth mentioning at that point that China Southern Airlines is not contained in the data set used. Accordingly, Air China constantly ranks second on a domestic level, with China Eastern Airlines ahead. From an Asian point of view, China Eastern and in some months IndiGo performed more flights. However, the big U.S. carriers (American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines) operated more flights when looking at the global level.
| Month | Domestic Rank | Asia Rank | Global Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| March | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| April | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| May | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| June | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Average ’21 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Pre-COVID Benchmark
When comparing Air China flight volume to a pre-Covid level, the results look entirely different to many other airlines (e. g. Lufthansa, Emirates, or KLM). Unlike many other airlines, Air China managed to operate more flights than pre-COVID in April and May. However, in June, Air China’s traffic again dropped below the pre-COVID level.
| Month | Flights 2021 | Flights 2019 | ’21 vs. ’19 (abs) | ’21 vs. ’19 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 26,793 | 38,201 | 11,408 | 29.9% |
| March | 40,375 | 40,911 | 536 | 1.3% |
| April | 42,081 | 40,161 | 1,920 | 4.8% |
| May | 43,721 | 42,289 | 1,432 | 3.4% |
| June | 39,243 | 41,342 | 2,099 | 5.1% |
| Avg. ’21 | 38,442 | 40,580 | 2,138 | 5.6% |
Air China – Flight Punctuality
In the following chapter, we take a deeper look at Air China’s flight punctuality. Again, we benchmark the Asian and global averages and provide a domestic, regional, and international ranking.
Monthly Puncutality Overview
Air China had a relatively good start in terms of on-time performance and achieved 81.5% in February. However, afterward, the Chinese carrier seemed to have some serious issues. As a result, the punctuality level constantly dropped to a low of 61.9% in May. On average, Air China achieved an on-time performance of 72.5%. Accordingly, the carrier performed 3.2 pp below the Asian and 7.4 pp below the global average.
| February | March | April | May | June | Monthly Average ’21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air China | 81.5% | 77.5% | 72.7% | 61.9% | 68.8% | 72.5% |
| Asia Average | 74.9% | 77.8% | 76.8% | 74.3% | 74.6% | 75.7% |
| Global Average | 77.7% | 82.5% | 81.9% | 80.9% | 76.8% | 79.9% |
Air China Flights — Domestic, Asian & Global Ranking By Punctuality
As a result of the weak performance, Air China ranks in the last quarter of analyzed airlines for most of the analyzed months. However, February marks the only month where Air China secured a midfield position. Accordingly, the airlines achieved sub-optimal rankings related to Asia and a domestic level.
| Month | Domestic Rank | Asia Rank | Global Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | 5 | 37 | 102 |
| March | 4 | 47 | 158 |
| April | 2 | 50 | 170 |
| May | 3 | 54 | 183 |
| June | 5 | 51 | 180 |
| Average ’21 | 4 | 48 | 159 |
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Air China – Flight Cancellations
In the last chapter of this report, we take a detailed look at flight cancellations. Similar to the previous chapter, we put results in relation to regional averages and provide rankings.
Monthly Cancellation Overview
Light and shadow — probably the easiest way to describe Air China’s performance in terms of flight cancellations. The carrier achieved solid results in February, March, and April. Although the cancellation rate is still high compared to top airlines in that field, it was below the Asian and global average. However, in May and June, the flight cancellation rate exploded to 7.5% and above 11%. Nevertheless, on average, Air China’s cancellation rate is still 2.9 pp below the global average and 8.5 pp below the Asian average.
| February | March | April | May | June | Monthly Average ’21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air China | 2.0% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 7.5% | 11.1% | 4.6% |
| Asia Average | 13.8% | 11.3% | 11.2% | 13.9% | 15.4% | 13.1% |
| Global Average | 8.7% | 6.1% | 6.3% | 7.7% | 8.9% | 7.5% |
Air China Flights — Domestic, Asian & Global Ranking by Cancellations
| Month | Domestic Rank | Asia Rank | Global Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | 5 | 48 | 155 |
| March | 3 | 28 | 104 |
| April | 2 | 29 | 105 |
| May | 4 | 43 | 161 |
| June | 5 | 49 | 183 |
| Average ’21 | 4 | 39 | 142 |
Used Data
The shown information is based on OAG data and internal data sources. Rankings only included airlines that operated more than 300 flights in the respective month. However, the global benchmark includes all tracked flights. On average, 210 airlines are included in each month’s analysis. Whenever stated, EMEA refers to airlines based in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa. China Southern Airlines was not part of the analyzed airlines.
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