Alitalia — 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 Italy’s Alitalia. Alitalia is Italy’s flag carrier and the biggest airline in the country. Therefore, we analyzed Alitalia’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
Alitalia — Flight Analysis
Let’s start the analysis with details about Alitalia’s flights from February to July 2021. Then, on top of the overall numbers, we also provide information on the airline’s share 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
Alitalia started the year with a tiny amount of flights. In February, the airline operated only some 3,000 flights. The carrier saw considerable growth in April when Alitalia added almost 50% to its schedule. However, May was another month of stagnation. Nevertheless, Alitalia has continued on its growth path in June and July with 21.5% and 30% growth rates.
Month | No. Flights | vs. prev. Month |
---|---|---|
February | 3,061 | |
March | 3,483 | 13.8% ![]() |
April | 5,089 | 46.1% ![]() |
May | 5,084 | 0% ![]() |
June | 6,177 | 21.5% ![]() |
July | 8,035 | 30.1% ![]() |
Avg. ’21 | 5,105 | 18.6% ![]() |
The below charts illustrates the flight growth in total number and percentage from February to July.


Global & European Ranking By Flight Volume
Alitalia observed a very stable ranking in terms of flight volume. From a domestic point of view, Alitalia has been the biggest airline – without any match in the market at the moment. However, when looking at Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Alitalia ranks solidly in a corridor between 19th and 22nd. Moreover, globally, Alitalia ranked 61st on average.
Month | Domestic Rank | EMEA Rank | Global Rank |
---|---|---|---|
February | 1 | 19 | 65 |
March | 1 | 22 | 70 |
April | 1 | 18 | 58 |
May | 1 | 22 | 61 |
June | 1 | 22 | 61 |
July | 1 | 20 | 53 |
Average ’21 | 1 | 20 | 61 |

Pre-COVID Benchmark
To provide more context, we put Alitalia’S flight figures in relation to pre-COVID volume. Therefore we benchmark 2021 data with 2019. Between February and July, Alitalia operated on average 11,080 flights less in 2021. However, here’s the important figure: Alitalia managed to reduce the gap to pre-COVID volume from >78% to 56% from February to July. Unfortunately, the results are much weaker compared to other airlines (see here: Vueling, Ryanair, easyJet)
Month | Flights 2021 | Flights 2019 | ’21 vs. ’19 (abs) | ’21 vs. ’19 (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
February | 3,061 | 14,254 | 11,193 ![]() | 78.5% ![]() |
March | 3,483 | 14,969 | 11,486 ![]() | 77.1% ![]() |
April | 5,089 | 16,223 | 11,134 ![]() | 68.7% ![]() |
May | 5,084 | 16,805 | 11,721 ![]() | 69.8% ![]() |
June | 6,177 | 16,673 | 10,496 ![]() | 63.2% ![]() |
July | 8,035 | 18,485 | 10,450 ![]() | 56.8% ![]() |
Avg. ’21 | 5,155 | 16,234 | 11,080 ![]() | 69.1% ![]() |

Alitalia – 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
Alitalia achieved outstanding results in terms of punctuality. From February to July, the carrier achieved an average on-time performance of 91.3%, 9pp above the EMEA, and almost 12pp above the global average.
Month | Alitalia | EMEA Avg. | World Avg. |
---|---|---|---|
February | 88.7% | 73.9% | 77.7% |
March | 93.0% | 85.7% | 82.5% |
April | 96.2% | 85.6% | 81.9% |
May | 93.4% | 85.2% | 80.9% |
June | 90.6% | 83.6% | 76.8% |
July | 85.9% | 79.7% | 76.5% |
Average ’21 | 91.3% | 82.3% | 79.4% |

Alitalia Flights — Global & European Ranking By Punctuality
Based on the above figures, Alitalia achieved solid rankings. On an EMEA level, Alitalia, on average, ranked 24th, whereas, on a global level, the carrier ranked 48th on average.
Month | Domestic Rank | EMEA Rank | Global Rank |
---|---|---|---|
February | 1 | 23 | 56 |
March | 1 | 20 | 42 |
April | 1 | 12 | 24 |
May | 1 | 23 | 38 |
June | 2 | 30 | 57 |
July | 1 | 39 | 71 |
Average ’21 | 1 | 24 | 48 |
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Alitalia – Flight Cancellations
In the last chapter of this report, we take a detailed look at Alitalia’s flight cancellations. Similar to the previous chapter, we put results in relation to regional averages and provide rankings.
Monthly Cancellation Overview
From January to July, Alitalia achieved incredible results in terms of schedule reliability. In four out of the six months, Alitalia did not cancel a single flight. As a result, Alitalia’s overall cancellation rate is 0.1%. That’s 2.6pp below the EMEA and 7.2pp below the world average.
Month | Alitalia | EMEA Avg. | World Avg. |
---|---|---|---|
February | 0.2% | 6.8% | 8.7% |
March | 0.0% | 2.7% | 6.1% |
April | 0.1% | 2.5% | 6.3% |
May | 0.0% | 4.0% | 7.7% |
June | 0.0% | 3.6% | 8.9% |
July | 0.0% | 2.7% | 6.3% |
Average ’21 | 0.1% | 3.7% | 7.3% |

Alitalia Flights — European Ranking by Cancellations
Alitalia 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 | 17 | 33 |
March | 1 | 5 | 5 |
April | 1 | 20 | 37 |
May | 1 | 11 | 4 |
June | 2 | 9 | 3 |
July | 1 | 27 | 36 |
Average ’21 | 1 | 14 | 19 |
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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