Punctuality league table
Who actually runs on time. We track arrivals at around 50 European airports and measure the delay where it matters — at your destination, not at the gate you left. This is the last 90 days, ranked.
How this is measured
On time means the flight arrived within 5 minutes of schedule. EU261 rate is the share that arrived 3 hours or more late — the threshold at which Article 7 compensation of €250–€600 becomes payable. Cancellations are counted separately and never folded into either delay figure.
Delay is always measured on arrival at the final destination, because that is what the law is measured on. A flight that leaves an hour late and makes it up in the air is not a delayed flight to a passenger, and is not one here either.
Only airlines with at least 2,000 flights and airports with at least 2,000 movements in the window are ranked. Below that, a single bad week decides the table — which is how these rankings usually go wrong.
Window: the last 90 days, from our own arrival observations.
Most punctual airlines
| # | Airline | Flights | On time | EU261 rate | Cancelled | Avg delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LOT Polish Airlines | 31,039 | 85.1% | 0.1% | 0.7% | 25 min |
| 2 | Brussels Airlines | 21,947 | 83.9% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 32 min |
| 3 | Austrian Airlines | 38,367 | 83.6% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 26 min |
| 4 | Turkish Airlines | 41,304 | 81.1% | 0.1% | 1.0% | 23 min |
| 5 | Aer Lingus | 23,662 | 79.9% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 30 min |
| 6 | Finnair | 46,218 | 79.8% | 0.2% | 0.9% | 26 min |
| 7 | SAS | 73,422 | 79.3% | 0.1% | 1.1% | 21 min |
| 8 | Norwegian | 18,998 | 78.1% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 23 min |
| 9 | Wizz Air | 24,267 | 77.8% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 41 min |
| 10 | Lufthansa | 90,152 | 76.3% | 0.2% | 1.2% | 24 min |
Least punctual airlines
| # | Airline | Flights | On time | EU261 rate | Cancelled | Avg delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TAP Air Portugal | 39,605 | 58.3% | 0.2% | 0.9% | 25 min |
| 2 | Aegean Airlines | 21,889 | 59.7% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 24 min |
| 3 | Emirates | 19,587 | 61.4% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 29 min |
| 4 | Air Europa | 25,731 | 61.7% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 26 min |
| 5 | Swiss | 38,617 | 62.2% | 0.4% | 1.5% | 25 min |
| 6 | British Airways | 74,401 | 63.8% | 0.5% | 1.8% | 29 min |
| 7 | Eurowings | 36,572 | 64.1% | 0.3% | 0.9% | 29 min |
| 8 | easyJet | 114,288 | 64.7% | 0.6% | 2.4% | 38 min |
| 9 | ITA Airways | 33,549 | 64.8% | 0.4% | 1.8% | 32 min |
| 10 | Luxair | 9,549 | 66.0% | 0.2% | 0.9% | 29 min |
Airlines that owe compensation most often
A different question from punctuality, and a more useful one if you are wondering whether to claim: the share of flights that arrived at least 3 hours late.
| # | Airline | Flights | On time | EU261 rate | Cancelled | Avg delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Airlines | 23,658 | 72.4% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 38 min |
| 2 | Ryanair | 213,471 | 68.9% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 46 min |
| 3 | Air Canada | 19,732 | 68.3% | 0.7% | 1.5% | 30 min |
| 4 | American Airlines | 26,941 | 72.2% | 0.6% | 1.3% | 30 min |
| 5 | Qatar Airways | 52,502 | 70.3% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 31 min |
| 6 | Vueling | 74,373 | 71.6% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 31 min |
| 7 | Iberia | 99,021 | 71.0% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 30 min |
| 8 | Virgin Atlantic | 19,624 | 72.5% | 0.6% | 1.9% | 29 min |
| 9 | easyJet | 114,288 | 64.7% | 0.6% | 2.4% | 38 min |
| 10 | British Airways | 74,401 | 63.8% | 0.5% | 1.8% | 29 min |
Most punctual airports
| # | Airport | Movements | On time | EU261 rate | Cancelled | Avg delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Balice (KRK) | 32,243 | 94.8% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 33 min |
| 2 | Pendik, Istanbul (SAW) | 60,683 | 93.2% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 29 min |
| 3 | Zaventem (BRU) | 49,501 | 88.1% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 27 min |
| 4 | Warsaw (WAW) | 44,283 | 87.3% | 0.2% | 0.8% | 28 min |
| 5 | Helsinki (Vantaa) (HEL) | 49,953 | 84.6% | 0.1% | 0.7% | 20 min |
| 6 | Vienna (VIE) | 66,434 | 83.8% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 30 min |
| 7 | Istanbul (IST) | 46,232 | 82.4% | 0.1% | 0.7% | 23 min |
| 8 | Stockholm (ARN) | 47,898 | 82.1% | 0.3% | 1.0% | 21 min |
| 9 | Edinburgh (EDI) | 42,123 | 81.7% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 33 min |
| 10 | Oslo (Gardermoen) (OSL) | 49,437 | 80.0% | 0.2% | 1.4% | 21 min |
Least punctual airports
| # | Airport | Movements | On time | EU261 rate | Cancelled | Avg delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lisbon (LIS) | 159,951 | 53.8% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 33 min |
| 2 | Manchester, Greater Manchester (MAN) | 53,712 | 54.2% | 1.1% | 1.6% | 38 min |
| 3 | Ferno (VA) (MXP) | 53,363 | 59.0% | 1.0% | 1.5% | 42 min |
| 4 | Palma de Mallorca (PMI) | 96,028 | 59.5% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 37 min |
| 5 | Ibiza (Eivissa) (IBZ) | 38,295 | 60.7% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 36 min |
| 6 | London, Essex (STN) | 42,575 | 60.8% | 1.4% | 0.8% | 40 min |
| 7 | London (LHR) | 119,348 | 63.1% | 0.5% | 1.8% | 33 min |
| 8 | Alicante (ALC) | 39,571 | 63.2% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 36 min |
| 9 | Zurich (ZRH) | 65,907 | 63.4% | 0.4% | 1.3% | 26 min |
| 10 | London (LGW) | 69,712 | 63.8% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 32 min |
Using these figures
Journalists, researchers and anyone else are welcome to use this table. It is our own measurement, it is free, and we ask only that you name the source and link back so readers can see the method.
Suggested citation:
Quiescence.eu flight punctuality data, September 2026 — https://quiescence.eu/flights/compensation/league-table/
Need a longer window, a specific country, or the underlying series? Ask — we would rather you quoted the right number than estimated one.
Was your flight one of the late ones?
Check it against the EU261 rules for free. No win, no fee.
Check my flightLeague table FAQ
Why is a punctual airline still high in the compensation table?
Because the two measure different things. Being 10 minutes late on many flights hurts punctuality but owes nobody anything. Being 3 hours late on a few flights barely moves punctuality and is exactly what EU261 pays on.
Why is my airline missing?
Either it flew fewer than the minimum number of flights at the airports we track in the last 90 days, or it does not serve them. The floor exists so a carrier with a handful of flights cannot top or bottom the table on noise.
Where does the data come from?
From our own arrival observations at around 50 European airports, collected every 10 minutes from each airport's own public flight information. The destination airport is treated as authoritative for arrival delay.
Does a high delay rate mean the airline has to pay me?
Not automatically. Compensation depends on your specific flight, the length of the delay at your final destination, and whether the airline can prove extraordinary circumstances. Check your own flight rather than relying on the average.