Vueling — Flights, Punctuality & Cancellations in 2021
After we’ve analyzed some of Europe’s biggest carriers, such as SAS, Iberia, or Air France, we continue the most detailed airline analysis with Spains’s Vueling. Vueling is part of IAG (British Airways, Aer Lingus, etc.) and has become one of Spain’s biggest airlines. Therefore, we analyzed Vueling’s performance in 2021: Flight rankings, punctuality reports, and cancellation rates. Moreover, we benchmarked the airline’s flight performance against regional and global averages. Here’s what’s contained in detail:
Flight Analysis
Monthly Flight Overview
Global & Europen Ranking By Number of Flights
Pre-COVID Benchmark
Flight Punctuality
Monthly Punctuality Overview
Global & European Ranking By Punctuality
Flight Cancellations
Monthly Cancellation Overview
Global & European Ranking By Cancellation Rate
Vueling — Flight Analysis
Let’s start the analysis with details about Vueling’s flights from February to July 2021. Then, on top of the overall numbers, we also provide information on the airline’s share in terms of EMEA traffic and the carrier’s ranking compared to other European and global airlines. Finally, and as the icing on the cake, we compare the performance in 2021 to pre-COVID results from 2019. So let’s dive into it!
Monthly Flight Overview
Although Vueling started on a meager level in 2021, the Spanish low-cost airline generated solid growth month-on-month. Moreover, Vueling’s growth rates exceeded many other airlines. For example, after 68% and 41% growth rates in March and April, the Spanish carrier doubled its flights in May. As a result, Vueling grew from 1,260 flights in February to more than 15,600 flights in July.
| Month | No. Flights | vs. prev. Month |
|---|---|---|
| February | 1,260 | |
| March | 2,118 | 68.1%  |
| April | 2,991 | 41.2% |
| May | 6,298 | 110.6% |
| June | 10,100 | 60.4% |
| July | 15,697 | 55.4% |
| Avg. ’21 | 6,410 | 55.9% |
The below chart on the right nicely illustrates Vueling’s massive growth. Especially in May, June, and July, the carrier added a tremendous amount of flights to its schedule. At the same time, Vueling’s share in relation to total flights by EMEA airlines grew from below 1% in February to more than 2.5% in July. This result once more reflects Vueling’s strong growth rates compared to other carriers!
Global & European Ranking By Number of Flights
Based on the tremendous growth rate, Vueling constantly improved its ranking – on a domestic, EMEA, and global level. In July, Vueling conquered the title of Spain’s biggest airline by flight volume for the first time in 2021 and left Iberia behind. At the same time, Vueling ranks as Europe’s 10th biggest airline. From a global point of view, the carrier skyrocket from position 112 in February to 28 in July.
| Month | Domestic Rank | EMEA Rank | Global Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | 4 | 37 | 112 |
| March | 3 | 30 | 96 |
| April | 3 | 26 | 79 |
| May | 2 | 16 | 52 |
| June | 2 | 13 | 39 |
| July | 1 | 10 | 28 |
| Average ’21 | 3 | 22 | 67 |
Pre-COVID Benchmark
To provide more context, we put Vueling’s flight figures in relation to pre-COVID volume. Therefore we benchmark 2021 data with 2019. Between February and July, Vueling operated on average 12,177 flights less in 2021. However, here’s the important figure: From February to July, Vueling managed to reduce the gap to pre-COVID volume from >90% to 31%. Let’s hope that Vueling continues on that path!
| Month | Flights 2021 | Flights 2019 | ’21 vs. ’19 (abs) | ’21 vs. ’19 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 1,260 | 13,000 | 11,740  | 90.3% |
| March | 2,118 | 15,289 | 13,171 | 86.1% |
| April | 2,991 | 19,012 | 16,021 | 84.3% |
| May | 6,298 | 19,992 | 13,694 | 68.5% |
| June | 10,100 | 21,406 | 11,306 | 52.8% |
| July | 15,697 | 22,828 | 7,131 | 31.2% |
| Avg. ’21 | 6,410 | 18,587 | 12,177 | 68.9% |
Vueling – Flight Punctuality
In the following chapter, we take a deeper look at the carrier’s flight performance regarding punctuality. Again, we benchmark the airline’s results with EMEA averages and provide a domestic, regional, and global ranking.
Monthly Puncutality Overview
Similar to other Spanish carriers (check out Iberia), Vueling operated with excellent on-time performance. On average, 94.4% of Vueling flights are on time! That’s more than 12pp better than the EMEA average and 15pp better than the world average!
| Month | Vueling | EMEA Avg. | World Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | 93.7% | 73.9% | 77.7% |
| March | 94.6% | 85.7% | 82.5% |
| April | 97.0% | 85.6% | 81.9% |
| May | 95.9% | 85.2% | 80.9% |
| June | 94.6% | 83.6% | 76.8% |
| July | 90.4% | 79.7% | 76.5% |
| Average ’21 | 94.4% | 82.3% | 79.4% |
Vueling Flights — Global & European Ranking By Punctuality
Vueling constantly achieved outstanding rankings in relation to other EMEA airlines and from a global perspective. However, due to the intense competition in Spain, the carrier didn’t rank first on a domestic level. Nevertheless, Vueling can be proud to rank among the top 10 punctual EMEA and top 20 punctual global airlines.
| Month | Domestic Rank | EMEA Rank | Global Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | 2 | 8 | 21 |
| March | 4 | 14 | 28 |
| April | 4 | 7 | 13 |
| May | 4 | 9 | 17 |
| June | 2 | 7 | 15 |
| July | 2 | 15 | 31 |
| Average ’21 | 3 | 10 | 20 |
Vueling – Flight Cancellations
In the last chapter of this report, we take a detailed look at Vuelings’ flight cancellations. Similar to the previous chapter, we put results in relation to regional averages and provide rankings.
Monthly Cancellation Overview
What a fantastic result! In four out of six analyzed months, Vueling achieved a cancellation rate of zero. Therefore, Vueling’s flight cancellation rate is 3.5pp better than the EMEA and 7.1pp better than the world average.
| Month | Vueling | EMEA Avg. | World Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | 0.0% | 6.8% | 8.7% |
| March | 0.0% | 2.7% | 6.1% |
| April | 0.0% | 2.5% | 6.3% |
| May | 0.0% | 4.0% | 7.7% |
| June | 0.1% | 3.6% | 8.9% |
| July | 0.8% | 2.7% | 6.3% |
| Average ’21 | 0.2% | 3.7% | 7.3% |
Vueling Flights — European Ranking by Cancellations
Vueling ranks among the world’s top airlines in most of the analyzed months based on the amazing results.
| Month | Domestic Rank | EMEA Rank | Global Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| March | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| April | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| May | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| June | 2 | 28 | 45 |
| July | 2 | 60 | 90 |
| Average ’21 | 1 | 15 | 24 |
Used Data
The shown information is based on OAG data and internal data sources. Rankings only included airlines that operated more than 500 flights in the respective month. However, the global benchmark includes all tracked flights. On average, 200 airlines are included in each month’s analysis. Whenever stated, EMEA refers to airlines based in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa.
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