Qatar Airways leads Cirium global on-time March performance report

Qatar Airways is March’s most on-time global airline, Cirium’s monthly report has highlighted, with a score of 87.36% (a four-point increase over February’s performance). Pegasus Airlines has also shown the highest performance improvement amongst March’s forerunners with an ‘impressive ten-point improvement over last month’s score of 76.8%’, with its hub Sabiha Gocken International Airport improving by nine points month-on-month with an on time performance score of 84.81% in March.  Avianca rose from seventh to third place with a score of 87.05%. Within the APAC region, the top-ranking airlines showed ‘significant improvements’, highlighted Cirium, with Singapore Airlnes maintaining dominance in the region with a score of 88.31%. AirAsia and Philippine airlines reported 88.31% and 85.33% respectively, with the former also the most improved airline in the region. However, the same could not be said of North American airlines, with carriers' on-time performance scores experiencing ‘decline’. The leader Delta (85.54%) still reported a near-four point decline from last month’s total, followed by United Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and Skywest Airlines were also instrumental in contributing to a 33% increase in cancellations for the region. Europe, however, saw a 14% decline in the number of flights cancelled. Austrian Airlines retained the top spot with a score of 90.37%, followed by LOT Polish Airlines (89.15%) and Aegean Airlines (88.42%). The top carrier in Latin America (with a 6% decrease in cancellations across the region) was Copa Airlines, retaining its market-leading on-time position for three consecutive months with a ‘remarkable’ 91.65% score. Despite Middle Eastern and African carriers witnessing a 12% surge in March cancellations, Safair remained the ‘undisputed leader’ at 96.7%, the highest score across all carriers and regions. OmanAir took second spot (93.32%) and Royal Jordanian climbed from seven to third with a thirteen-point month-on-month increase of 89.68%.