Iberia and Iberia Express, the most punctual airlines in Europe in 2024

Iberia Express and Iberia have been recognised as the most punctual airlines in Europe in 2024, ranking first and second respectively.

Iberia Express has come out on top in Europe with an 84.69% on-time arrival rate, figures that have also placed it as the most punctual low-cost airline in the world in 2024, according to Cirium's On-time Performance Report, the industry's most relevant annual report on punctuality.

Iberia has positioned itself as the second most punctual airline in Europe, with a total of 183,268 flights and 81.58% of flights arriving on time at their destinations, and for another year it appears in the top 10 worldwide among the most punctual airlines, in eighth position.

These figures are particularly noteworthy given the complex challenges faced by aviation this year, such as regulations in European airspace, congestion at some of the airports served by both airlines, labour disputes at certain air traffic control centres and the global shortage of spare parts.

“This is one of the company's achievements that makes us most proud because, on the one hand, it allows us to offer a good service to our customers and, on the other, it demonstrates the enormous level of commitment of the entire Iberia Express team. My thanks to the crews and the teams directly involved in operations, as well as to all the people at Iberia Express and the companies that have supported us throughout 2024 to achieve this great milestone. We are operating more and more flights, but always trying to maintain a level of consistency and high standards of safety, efficiency and operational excellence to offer the best possible experience to our customers. At Iberia Express we face very important challenges in the short, medium and long term, which we can only achieve by all rowing together in the same direction, which will surely lead us to revalidate these excellent figures achieved in 2024,” said Carlos Gómez, CEO of Iberia Express.

“Punctuality is, without a doubt, the main attribute that our customers demand and, for this reason, we dedicate all our efforts to try to maintain the high standards achieved in recent years. We are very pleased with this recognition by Cirium, although our objective is to continue improving. It has been a complex year, full of disruptions, which has prevented us from reaching the quality standards that a company like ours is committed to offering its customers. In 2025, we are committed to making even greater efforts, to reviewing each of the processes and changing whatever is necessary to achieve excellence in punctuality. This is the wish of each and every one of Iberia's 10,000 employees, pilots, cabin crew, maintenance technicians, engineers and office staff, as well as our colleagues at the airport, now belonging to South, IAG's handling company,” said Marco Sansavini, President of Iberia.

Although these figures place the Iberia Group companies among the best in the world in terms of punctuality, they are below the absolute objectives of excellence that Iberia pursues. With the intention of achieving them in the near future, both companies are already immersed in the implementation of their business plans.

Punctuality, the hallmark of the Iberia Group

Iberia and Iberia Express have always maintained high standards of operational excellence that have allowed them to build a successful track record.

Iberia has been among the most punctual airlines in Europe and also in the top 10 worldwide for the last nine years. Iberia Express has been the most punctual low-cost airline in the world for five consecutive years, between 2014 and 2018; the most punctual low-cost airline in Europe in 2019 and 2022, and the most punctual airline in Europe in 2023. In the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, two of the most important markets for Iberia Express, departure punctuality has been above 90 percent in both archipelagos.

In its report, Cirium congratulated Iberia Express and highlighted that “it continues to prove to be one of the most reliable airlines in Europe. This achievement underlines Iberia Express’ dedication to punctuality and reflects its spirit of operational excellence. This airline continues to demonstrate that affordability can coexist with punctuality. As a leader in European aviation, Iberia Express combines high expectations with exceptional service, positioning itself as a benchmark in the sector.”

Record operations and fleet utilization

Iberia Express has achieved a high rate of punctuality despite having progressively increased both its number of flights and the use of its fleet, which has remained at 25 aircraft.

For the first time, Iberia Express has exceeded 43,000 annual flights with a fleet utilization of 11 hours, a level that brings it closer to ultra-low-cost companies. Iberia Express is achieving the same efficiency, but with the added difficulty of its hybrid business model, which ensures connectivity with the departure and arrival banks of Iberia flights to continue feeding the group's network.

Source: Iberia.