Airlines Were on Time in 2020, but Passenger Flights Operated Halved Compared to 2019, Reveals Cirium

Over 180 of the major global airlines were on time in 2020, according to a new report by Cirium, the global aviation data company. The Cirium Airline Insights Review 2020 reveals that only 30 major airlines achieved this standard pre-pandemic. But over 60%—or 180 of 300 airlines globally—achieved a 90% or higher on-time arrival percentage since February 2020.

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On-time performance of the top 300 global airlines significantly improved as COVID-19 reduced the number of flights in the air. In 2020, airlines only flew half of the flights flown the previous year.

“The pandemic caused a significant reduction in flight volume with airlines operating 49% fewer flights in 2020. The factors that normally cause flight delays didn’t exist, such as congestion at the airport. Overall global passenger traffic was down in 2020 by 67% from the previous year,” said Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium.

Cirium’s top 10 league table for flights operated by country shows that the majority of flights were operated in the US, despite a 42% year-over-year drop in the market. China maintained its position, with only 24% of that market’s flights down versus 2019.

Japan overtook India, moving up to 3^rd place as India’s flights were down 50% versus 2019. The UK was hit heavily with 67% of flights down compared to last year, moving it to 8^th place from 5^th. Russia moved from 10^th place in 2019 to 5^th in 2020 and Indonesia moved into the top 10.

Top 10 countries by passenger flights flown 2020
Rank	Country	Total flights flown 2020	Rank in 2019	% YoY diff
1	United States	5.1M	#1	-42%
2	China	3.4M	#2	-24%
3	Japan	638K	#4	-43%
4	India	592K	#3	-50%
5	Russia	486K	#10	-34%
6	Brazil	382K	#9	-53%
7	Spain	352K	#7	-61%
8	United Kingdom	340K	#5	-67%
9	Indonesia	333K	#12	-53%
10	Mexico	332K	#15	-44%
Source: Cirium Core, flights tracked data (passenger flights - narrowbody, widebody and regional) for Jan 1 to Dec 31, date filed Jan 1, 2021

Asia-Pacific carriers recovered much quicker in 2020 than their global peers and rose in the rankings in flights operated. Out of the top 10 global airlines, China Southern Airlines’ passenger flights only dropped 28% versus 2019. United Airlines was the most impacted of the top 10, with a 54% drop in flights flown versus 2019.

No European carriers feature in the 2020 list. Ryanair moved to 13^th place (from 6^th) as the airline’s flights flown were down 72% versus the year before. Lufthansa was 11^th in 2019 but missed out on the 2020 top 10, finishing at 29^th place as flights flown dropped by 69% in 2020.

Top 10 airlines by passenger flights flown 2020
Rank	Airline code	Airline	Total flights flown 2020	Rank in 2019	% YoY diff
1	WN	Southwest Airlines	896K	#1	-34%
2	AA	American Airlines	622K	#3	-44%
3	DL	Delta Air Lines	619K	#2	-46%
4	OO	SkyWest Airlines	597K	#4	-30%
5	CZ	China Southern Airlines	521K	#7	-28%
6	UA	United Airlines	372K	#5	-54%
7	MU	China Eastern Airlines	321K	#9	-33%
8	CA	Air China	312K	#10	-30%
9	6E	IndiGo	281K	#8	-45%
10	YX	Republic Airways	217K	#15	-37%
Source: Cirium Core, flights tracked data (passenger flights - narrowbody, widebody and regional) for Jan 1 to Dec 31, date filed Jan 1, 2021

“Domestic travel has recovered faster and airlines with a dominant domestic market come back quicker,” Bowen said. “That is especially the case in Asia-Pacific where recovery is more positive. The US and Europe have experienced setbacks with government-enforced restrictions and additional waves of COVID-19 affecting travel.”

Travel restrictions and the shift to more leisure travel versus business travel changed the top 10 league table for flights flown by airport extensively.

Chicago O’Hare is usually the busiest airport globally for passenger flights, however the pandemic caused a 46% reduction in flights for the airport in 2020. Three Chinese airports—Guangzhou Baiyun, Chengdu Shuangliu, and Shenzhen Bao’an—moved into the global top 10 busiest airports by arriving passenger flights.

Top 10 airports by passenger flights flown 2020
Rank	Airport code	Airport	Total flights flown 2020	Rank in 2019	% YoY diff
1	ATL	Atlanta US	260K	#2	-40%
2	DFW	Dallas US	235K	#3	-30%
3	ORD	Chicago US	234K	#1	-46%
4	DEN	Denver US	202K	#5	-32%
5	CLT	Charlotte US	182K	#7	-32%
6	CAN	Guangzhou CN	165K	#13	-28%
7	LAX	Los Angeles US	156K	#4	-50%
8	CTU	Chengdu CN	148K	#37	-16%
9	SZX	Shenzhen CN	139K	#42	-16%
10	SEA	Seattle US	137K	#18	-36%
Source: Cirium Core, flights tracked data (passenger flights - narrowbody, widebody and regional) for Jan 1 to Dec 31, date filed Jan 1, 2021

In 2019, London Heathrow was the 9^th busiest airport for flights flown. In 2020, it ranked 31^st and flights operating there were down 61% versus 2019. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol was the busiest airport in Europe. Flight operations there dropped 57% in 2020 and as a result the airport sits at 27^th globally.

The Cirium Airline Insights Review 2020 provides additional insights on 2020 air travel industry and includes The On-Time Performance Review 2020 by Cirium.

To read the full Cirium Airline Insights Review 2020 – click here.

Ends

Note to editors:

Data for the passenger flights flown is based on set criteria, which includes passenger flights only (including combination flights – passenger and cargo) that are scheduled and aircraft market classes of narrowbody, widebody, and regional jets. It excludes other types, such as cargo and business jet flights, as well as unscheduled flights.

For further information please visit www.cirium.com and follow Cirium updates via LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Cirium

Cirium brings together powerful data and analytics to keep the world moving. Delivering insight, built from decades of experience in the sector, enabling travel companies, aircraft manufacturers, airports, airlines and financial institutions, among others, to make logical and informed decisions which shape the future of travel, growing revenues and enhancing customer experiences. Cirium is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

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Contact information

For media enquiries, please contact,

In the UK: Paul Charles / Michael Johnson / Balint Brunner at The PC Agency via cirium@pc.agency or +44 207 768 0001

In the Americas: Mike Arnot, at Juliett Alpha via cirium@juliettalpha.com

In Asia-Pacific: Tracy Cheung, at Cirium via tracy.cheung@cirium.com