By Jeremy Bowen, Chief Executive Officer Cirium
When low-cost carriers reach their peak, they not only offer customers affordable fares but also achieve high operating margins. In fact, they often rank among the top performers in the airline industry.
On-time performance directly correlates with customer satisfaction and efficient aircraft utilization, which are the core strengths of low-cost airlines.
Indeed, the on-time performance of the top three Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs) not only matches but often exceeds that of many traditional legacy airlines.
Timeliness is crucial for a business model that relies on maximizing aircraft utilization and minimizing costly flight delays that have a direct impact on operating costs.
This year, Cirium is pleased to report that the South African carrier, Safair (FA), led the charge for all low-cost carriers globally in 2023 with 92.36% of their 55,444 flight operations arriving on time, edging 2nd place Azul (AD) operating 310,972 flights with an OTP arrival of 85.51% and Hong Kong Express (UD) with an OTP arrival of 85.23% on 23,761 flights.
Cirium congratulates Safair for this feat, as well as honorable mention to Azul and Hong Kong Express. After all — low-cost carriers fly in the same space as the world’s largest carriers, with all of the same challenges.
