Most Reliable Airlines in 2021 – The Ultimate Ranking!
Since we’ve received so much positive feedback on our latest ranking about the world’s most punctual and largest airlines, we wanted to add another perspective today. Therefore, we’ve analyzed the reliability of the world’s airlines. But let’s quickly provide you with some facts before we dive into the details of the ranking:
Which airlines are included?
The ranking includes 288 airlines that provide data to OAG. Moreover, we only included airlines that performed more than 1,000 flights in 2021.
How do you define Reliability?
In this ranking, reliability refers to the number of canceled flights in relation to overall operated flights. Accordingly, the fewer an airline cancels, the more reliable the airline is. Therefore, we provide you with the cancelation rate for each airline that is contained in the ranking.
Which timeframe did you analyze?
For this report, we’ve analyzed data from February to July 2021.
Contents
World’s Top 20 Most Reliable Airlines
Europe, Middle East & Africa Top 10
Asia Top 10
North America Top 10
Latin America Top 10
Most Reliable Airlines – World’s Top 20
The gold medal and award for the world’s most reliable airline in 2021 goes to Hawaiian Airlines. As one of only three airlines, Hawaiian achieved a ZERO cancellation rate from February to July 2021. Besides Hawaiian Airlines, Philippines AirAsia and Sun Country Airlines achieved the identic result. However, since Hawaiian Airlines operated the highest number of flights compared to Philippines AirAsia and Sun Country, the island carrier won the gold medal.
Moreover, it’s worth mentioning that all airlines on the top 20 delivered an excellent performance in terms of flight schedule reliability. As a result, many of the shown carriers had to cancel only a very meager amount of flights. On top of that, it is good to see airlines from all world regions among the top 20. Although European airlines represent a considerable part, we also have airlines from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
| Rank | Airline | Flights | Canceled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaiian Airlines | 27,080 | 0.0% |
| 2 | Philippines AirAsia | 2,970 | 0.0% |
| 3 | Sun Country Airlines | 10,300 | 0.0% |
| 4 | Pegasus Airlines | 58,500 | 0.03% |
| 5 | Silver Airways | 9,000 | 0.03% |
| 6 | Finnair | 13,300 | 0.05% |
| 7 | S7 Airlines | 65,500 | 0.05% |
| 8 | Viva Air Colombia | 16,100 | 0.05% |
| 9 | Alitalia | 31,000 | 0.07% |
| 10 | Bahamasair | 4,400 | 0.07% |
| 11 | NordStar | 5,200 | 0.08% |
| 12 | Safair | 9,600 | 0.08% |
| 13 | Vueling Airlines | 38,500 | 0.15% |
| 14 | Singapore Airlines | 14,100 | 0.17% |
| 15 | Citilink | 47,100 | 0.18% |
| 16 | Luxair | 5,500 | 0.18% |
| 17 | Ethiopian Airlines | 41,900 | 0.22% |
| 18 | Emirates | 33,600 | 0.23% |
| 19 | Pobeda | 39,800 | 0.23% |
| 20 | Air Europa | 16,400 | 0.25% |
Most Reliable Airlines – Europe, Middle East & Africa Top 10
Pegasus Airlines can be proud of the title, EMEA’s most reliable airline, when looking at Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Out of almost 59,000 flights, Pegasus had to cancel roughly 18 flights during February and July 2021. Moreover, with Finnair, S7, Alitalia, NordStar, and Safair, five additional airlines achieved cancellation rates below 0.1%
| Rank | Airline | Flights | Canceled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pegasus Airlines | 58,500 | 0.03% |
| 2 | Finnair | 13,300 | 0.05% |
| 3 | S7 Airlines | 65,500 | 0.05% |
| 4 | Alitalia | 31,000 | 0.07% |
| 5 | NordStar | 5,200 | 0.08% |
| 6 | Safair | 9,600 | 0.08% |
| 7 | Vueling Airlines | 38,500 | 0.15% |
| 8 | Luxair | 5,500 | 0.18% |
| 9 | Ethiopian Airlines | 41,900 | 0.22% |
| 10 | Emirates | 33,600 | 0.23% |
Most Reliable Airlines – Asia Top 10
As mentioned earlier, Philippines AirAsia is one of the rare airlines that achieved a zero cancellation rate. Accordingly, the airlines rank first among Asia’s most reliable airlines. With Singapore Airlines, Citilink, and Asian Airlines, three major carriers follow positions two, three, and four.
| Rank | Airline | Flights | Canceled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippines AirAsia | 2,970 | 0.0% |
| 2 | Singapore Airlines | 14,100 | 0.17% |
| 3 | Citilink | 47,100 | 0.18% |
| 4 | Asiana Airlines | 19,200 | 0.88% |
| 5 | Thai Smile Airways | 6,600 | 0.93% |
| 6 | Korean Air | 23,300 | 0.97% |
| 7 | Air Seoul | 6,400 | 1.4% |
| 8 | Air Busan | 15,900 | 1.5% |
| 9 | Thai Airways | 3,000 | 1.5% |
| 10 | Skymark Airlines | 22,900 | 1.8% |
Most Reliable Airlines – North America Top 10
North America is the home of two airlines that achieved a zero cancellation rate. Hawaiian Airlines and Sun Country Airlines can label themselves as the world’s most reliable airlines. With Silver Air and Bahamasair, North America has another two airlines that operated below 0.1% cancellations.
| Rank | Airline | Flights | Canceled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaiian Airlines | 27,080 | 0.0% |
| 2 | Sun Country Airlines | 10,300 | 0.0% |
| 3 | Silver Airways | 9,000 | 0.03% |
| 4 | Bahamasair | 4,400 | 0.07% |
| 5 | Air Canada | 45,200 | 1.0% |
| 6 | Spirit Airlines | 102,000 | 1.3% |
| 7 | Pacific Coastal Airlines | 5,300 | 1.4% |
| 8 | Frontier Airlines | 70,000 | 1.6% |
| 9 | Alaska Airlines | 187,000 | 1.7% |
| 10 | JetBlue | 126,500 | 1.8% |
Most Reliable Airlines – Latin America Top 10
Latin America’s top 10 contain some airlines with relatively high cancellation rates compared to other world regions. Especially Volaris’ and TAR Aerolineas’ performance is below the average of the other world regions.
| Rank | Airline | Flights | Canceled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viva Air Colombia | 16,100 | 0.05% |
| 2 | Aeromexico | 71,200 | 0.27% |
| 3 | Copa Airlines | 25,900 | 0.32% |
| 4 | Jetsmart | 6,000 | 0.57% |
| 5 | GOL | 50,500 | 0.95% |
| 6 | Avianca | 23,200 | 0.97% |
| 7 | LATAM Ecuador | 3,200 | 1.2% |
| 7 | Azul Airlines | 99,900 | 1.2% |
| 8 | LATAM | 115,000 | 2.0% |
| 9 | Volaris | 72,800 | 5.1% |
| 10 | TAR Aerolineas | 5,200 | 5.6% |
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.
What Do You Think?
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