Russia's Red Wings Airlines has claimed the top spot as the world's most punctual airline in May. According to Cirium's latest on-time performance report, the airline beat the likes of Japan Airlines, ANA, and Spain's Vueling, who all scored well for on-time arrivals.

Aviation data experts Cirium have issued monthly on-time performance reports for over a decade. Unfortunately, the company decided to suspend these in early 2020, given the ongoing aviation crisis. However, as aviation looks to be slowly rebounding, they are being compiled once more, with the first looking at May 2021.

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Red Wings comes out on top

According to Cirium's report, the Russian carrier RedWings Airlines had the highest on-time performance of any mainline carrier. 96.18% of the airline's 1,812 flights arrived at their destination on time. However, while 96.18% is impressive, other carriers weren't far behind. In Europe, Spain's Vueling was hot on their tail, with a performance of 96.07%.

The most punctual airline in the Asia-Pacific region was JAL, with 95.19% of flights arriving on time. ANA came in second with 94.6%. In North America, Hawaiian Airlines came out on top with 93.22%. Meanwhile, Avianca came out on top in Latin America, with 93.69% of its flights arriving on time.

Red Wing Airlines, Cirium, On Time Airlines
JAL was the most punctual airline in the Asia-Pacific region. Photo: Vincenzo Pace - Simple Flying

Who are Red Wings Airlines?

While it may have been the most punctual airline in May, you may not have heard of Red Wing Airlines. So we decided to take a brief look at the airline. According to data from ch-aviation.com, the scheduled carrier was founded in 2007. The airline is based at Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport (DME).

The airline has a bit of a varied fleet of 26 aircraft. ch-aviation.com lists the airline's active aircraft as,

  • 4x Airbus A320-200
  • 11x Airbus A321-200
  • 2x Boeing 777-200
  • 8x Sukhoi SJ100
  • 1x Tupolev Tu-204-100
Red Wing Airlines, Cirium, On Time Airlines
Red Wings Airlines has eight Sukhoi SJ100 aircraft. Photo: Getty Images

The Tupolev and one of the Superjet 100 aircraft operate for the airline's VIP division. According to the data, the airline serves 120 routes, flying to 61 destinations across 11 countries.

Which were the most punctual airports?

Data experts cirium don't just look at the most punctual airlines. They also look at which airports had the fewest delays. They are divided into four categories. The best global airport for on-time performance was Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND). Here, 96.86% of the 20,670 flights served in May were on time. This was closely followed by Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO), with 96.1% of 17,590 flights.

Haneda was beaten by two other airports in the large airport category, with Itami Airport (ITM) and New Chitose Airport (CTS), both in Japan, securing a score of 97.76% and 97.52%, respectively. These airports were only beaten by Matsuyama Airport (MYJ), also in Japan, in the small airport category, with a punctuality of 97.84% across 1,093 flights. However, it serves just seven routes compared to 77 at Haneda.

What do you make of Cirium's findings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!