The popular, affordable carrier that has been crowned the most reliable airline in Britain

In air travel, there’s one thing that matters above all else. Comfort is ideal and decent food is always a plus, but the bottom line is that you want to get where you’re going on time.

You can boost your chances of getting on a flight that arrives on schedule by opting for a more trustworthy airline, and luckily, the aviation experts at AirAdvisor have just released a ranking based on reliability. The report analysed data from nearly 1.5 million flights between 2023 and 2024, looking at which company was operating which journey, and which ones were delayed or cancelled.

After all the numbers were crunched, AirAdvisor found that Jet2 was the most reliable provider in the UK. In 2023, 75.8 percent of Jet2 flights got to their destinations in time, and even though that number fell to just 67.4 percent, it didn’t stop the company from claiming the top spot.

Part of that is because its cancellation rates are so low. Only 0.02 percent of Jet2 flights ended up not taking off, the lowest of any British airline. As a budget carrier, this is a particularly notable feat. Jet2 came fourth in AirAdvisor’s overall ranking of airlines, largely because it had a higher cost-per-mile ratio than any of its competitors.

The second most reliable airline was easyJet, with only 1.7 percent of flights cancelled in 2023, a rate which fell to only 1.1 percent in 2024. Considering that the orange carrier is by far the largest in the UK, that’s not too bad at all.

Virgin Atlantic was the third most reliable, and also joint first overall alongside British Airways. It was a bit of a mixed bag for cancellations, with a very low rate of 0.5 percent in 2023 that jumped to 1.7 percent the next year. Most flights are on time – 75.7 and 70 percent in 2023 and 24 respectively – and according to AirAdvisor, ‘The only reason Virgin doesn’t appear higher in the list is their size. They don’t run nearly as many flights annually as easyJet or Jet2’.

On the end of the spectrum, TUI had the lowest percentage of flights arrive on time. Only 55 percent – just over half – of TUI trips reach their destination when they’re meant to, although they do have a pretty low cancellation rate of only 0.3 percent. Eastern Airways was the least reliable company in the study, with a whopping 12 percent of trips ending up cancelled.

The five most reliable airlines in Britain

Here are the top five most reliable airlines in the UK, according to data from AirAdvisor:

1. Jet2
2. EasyJet
3. Virgin Atlantic
4. British Airways
5. Blue Islands

You can see the full report on AirAdvisor here.

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