Cirium Names December as Busiest Month for Air Travel Globally in 2021; Over 59,000 Flights Are Canceled Near Year-End, the Most in a Decade
January 06 2022 - 2:19AM
Business Wire
- Cirium’s On-Time Performance Review 2021 reveals December as
the busiest month in 2021 for flights flown globally – a total of
2.43 million
- Over 59,240 flights have been canceled globally from December
24 to January 3 – the most flight cancelations in December for the
past decade
- 20,500 of these flight cancelations happened over the first
three days of the new year
- The big four US airlines canceled a total of nearly 7,040
flights between December 24 and January 3
- American Airlines flew the most flights in 2021 at around
1,850,050
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was the
busiest global airport this year and ranked 15th in the Top 20
Global airports for on-time performance
Aviation analytics firm Cirium, reveals that December was the
busiest month in 2021 for flights globally, totaling 2.43 million,
however the total number of flights canceled globally between
December 24, 2021, and January 3, 2022, was 59,240, some 2.4%.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220105006010/en/
According to Cirium data, the big four US
airlines canceled nearly 7,040 flights between December 24 and
January 3, 2022. Globally, over 59,000 flights were canceled over
this period. (Graphic: Business Wire)
The number of cancelations over this period is the most
cancelations in December for the past decade, six times more than
the cancelations in 2019 and two and half times more than 2020. A
total of 20,500 flights were canceled in the first three days of
the new year.
The big four US airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Air
Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, canceled nearly
7,040 flights over this period.
The cancelations being driven by the surging cases of the
Omicron variant of COVID-19 and other operational challenges
(including winter weather). Airlines rapidly canceled flights due
to staff shortages across crew and ground operations.
Pre-Omicron, global flights flown increased 1.5% week-over-week
(December 11-17, 2021). However, global flights are now down 5%
compared to the week prior, following the impact of Omicron.
There are large variances between the regions, with the US,
Europe and North Atlantic down 9-10%, China up 6%, while
Asia-Pacific and Middle East are flat.
“Flight disruptions affect airlines and airports differently –
it depends on the availability and flexibility of equipment and
resources in place to react quickly. Those that plan more
conservatively will minimize their operational disruptions. Cirium
monitors the level of disruption by measuring completion factor of
flights and their on-time performance,” said Jeremy Bowen CEO at
Cirium.
“Cirium’s recent On-Time Performance Review shows how some
airlines have focused on their operations to reduce the impact on
passengers. For example, Delta Air Lines completed 99.8% of their
flights from June to December 2021 and All Nippon Airways, the
winner of the Global airline category in Cirium’s Review had a
completion factor of 99.2%.”
Consideration is given to the carriers with high volumes of
flights. For example, American Airlines flew the most flights in
2021 – around 1,850,050 – and still, its flights arrived 80.47% on
time. The carrier did have trouble reinstating flight volumes after
more than a year of deeply depressed demand yet completed 97.5% of
its flights.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), the
major hub for Delta Air Lines, was the busiest airport based on
departing flights with 336,890 this year. Despite handling the most
flights, it ranked 15th in on-time performance of the Top 20 Global
airports.
Amsterdam Airport (AMS) was the busiest airport for
international flights in 2021, with a total of 123,070 departing
flights, however, it didn’t make the Top 20 airport rankings for
on-time performance. Airports have experienced many variables this
year in deploying comprehensive pandemic protocols, optimizing the
reconciliation and collection of fees and services, and optimizing
staffing.
Cirium’s On-Time Performance Review is the industry standard for
airlines and airports operational performance. Cirium resumed
reporting in June 2021, as flight volumes returned, with regular
monthly updates that help gauge the industry’s performance in
getting passengers from point A to point B, on time. Cirium’s
on-time performance analysis is based on flight data from over 600
sources of real-time flight information.
Click here to download the complimentary On-Time
Performance Review 2021.
About Cirium
Cirium brings together powerful data and analytics to keep the
world moving. Delivering insights, 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. The
shares of RELX PLC are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York
Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL;
Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX.
For further information please follow Cirium updates on LinkedIn
or Twitter or visit www.cirium.com.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220105006010/en/
Cirium media team (Rachel Humphries/June Lee) at
media@cirium.com Juliett Alpha (Mike Arnot) at
cirium@juliettalpha.com The PC Agency (Paul Charles/Michael
Johnson/Callum McGoldrick at cirium@pc.agency
Relx (LSE:REL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Relx (LSE:REL)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024