Airline delays by country, September 2023

46.1 min average departure delay (early and cancelled flights count as 0), Pakistan

The country with at least 100 flights a day whose airlines had the longest average departure delay in September 2023 was Pakistan: average departure delay 46.1 min (early and cancelled flights count as 0).

September 2023 (1–30 September 2023) Source: www.airportia.com/statistics/countries/2023-09/

Period: 1–30 September 2023 (UTC). Data calculated on 3 November 2026 at 04:00 UTC. In the average departure delay, early and cancelled flights count as 0. How we calculate this

Top 15 countries by average departure delay
Airline delays by country, September 2023: top 15, average departure delay1–30 September 2023. Source: Airportia.1. Pakistan: 46.1 min (3,901 flights)1. Pakistan46.1 min2. Tunisia: 39.5 min (4,526 flights)2. Tunisia39.5 min3. United Kingdom: 38.0 min (115,868 flights)3. United Kingdom38.0 min4. Israel: 36.7 min (4,336 flights)4. Israel36.7 min5. Serbia: 35.1 min (4,234 flights)5. Serbia35.1 min6. Hong Kong: 34.5 min (10,781 flights)6. Hong Kong34.5 min7. Portugal: 34.4 min (14,379 flights)7. Portugal34.4 min8. Kuwait: 32.6 min (6,265 flights)8. Kuwait32.6 min9. Switzerland: 31.4 min (14,362 flights)9. Switzerland31.4 min10. Hungary: 31.1 min (14,752 flights)10. Hungary31.1 min11. Netherlands: 30.4 min (29,019 flights)11. Netherlands30.4 min12. Italy: 29.1 min (17,582 flights)12. Italy29.1 min13. Ireland: 28.4 min (109,751 flights)13. Ireland28.4 min14. United States: 28.1 min (785,744 flights)14. United States28.1 min15. Germany: 27.4 min (65,718 flights)15. Germany27.4 min

Only countries with at least 3,000 flights in the period (100 a day) are ranked, so a handful of flights cannot top the list. 83 smaller countries were left out. 8 countries with an average delay of exactly 0 were left out too: that almost always means no departure times were reported.

Full ranking: 75 countries

# Country Average departure delay Cancelled Flights
1 Pakistan 46.1 min 3.6% 3,901
2 Tunisia 39.5 min 0.7% 4,526
3 United Kingdom 38.0 min 1.8% 115,868
4 Israel 36.7 min 0.1% 4,336
5 Serbia 35.1 min 0.7% 4,234
6 Hong Kong 34.5 min 2.8% 10,781
7 Portugal 34.4 min 1.3% 14,379
8 Kuwait 32.6 min 0.3% 6,265
9 Switzerland 31.4 min 1.3% 14,362
10 Hungary 31.1 min 0.2% 14,752
11 Netherlands 30.4 min 1.2% 29,019
12 Italy 29.1 min 0.9% 17,582
13 Ireland 28.4 min 0.3% 109,751
14 United States 28.1 min 1.2% 785,744
15 Germany 27.4 min 1.5% 65,718
16 Morocco 27.3 min 0.3% 7,382
17 Poland 27.0 min 0.8% 9,525
18 France 26.7 min 1.4% 40,161
19 Malta 26.1 min 0.5% 11,588
20 Bangladesh 25.8 min 0.0% 4,982
21 Belgium 25.4 min 1.4% 9,000
22 Greece 25.3 min 0.4% 17,853
23 Turkey 24.9 min 0.3% 76,837
24 Vietnam 24.5 min 0.1% 25,533
25 China 24.2 min 1.9% 406,809
26 Canada 23.5 min 1.9% 82,174
26 Mexico 23.5 min 4.4% 48,873
28 Australia 22.9 min 2.7% 58,273
29 Luxembourg 22.6 min 1.2% 3,130
30 Indonesia 22.1 min 7.2% 57,083
30 Malaysia 22.1 min 0.9% 31,866
32 South Korea 21.9 min 0.1% 34,194
33 Bahrain 21.6 min 4.6% 4,164
34 Iceland 21.5 min 1.5% 4,952
35 India 21.3 min 0.6% 102,878
35 Qatar 21.3 min 0.1% 16,651
37 Spain 20.9 min 0.2% 63,081
38 United Arab Emirates 20.8 min 0.2% 37,892
39 Egypt 20.6 min 0.1% 12,213
40 Taiwan 20.4 min 1.7% 17,411
41 Oman 20.2 min 0.1% 5,736
42 Argentina 18.8 min 0.5% 10,816
43 Panama 18.7 min 0.0% 9,975
44 Saudi Arabia 17.9 min 0.5% 25,204
45 Philippines 17.4 min 0.8% 24,310
45 Latvia 17.4 min 0.1% 4,379
47 Brazil 17.0 min 2.7% 46,300
47 Singapore 17.0 min 0.2% 14,166
49 New Zealand 16.9 min 3.3% 16,005
50 Finland 16.8 min 0.1% 8,563
51 Thailand 16.7 min 0.1% 26,246
52 Jordan 16.2 min 0.1% 3,095
53 Sweden 16.0 min 0.9% 3,688
54 Japan 15.7 min 0.6% 88,242
55 Norway 15.3 min 1.0% 38,960
55 Austria 15.3 min 0.5% 18,245
55 Algeria 15.3 min 0.1% 6,546
58 Chile 15.0 min 0.6% 50,241
59 Czech Republic 14.7 min 0.1% 3,476
60 South Africa 14.3 min 1.0% 8,398
61 Ethiopia 13.2 min 0.0% 11,762
62 Russia 10.9 min 0.2% 63,890
63 Kazakhstan 10.4 min 0.2% 8,383
64 Colombia 10.0 min 0.3% 22,238
65 Nigeria 8.0 min 0.2% 7,091
65 Bahamas 8.0 min 0.4% 3,611
67 Myanmar (Burma) 6.9 min 1.0% 3,199
68 Nepal 6.7 min 0.2% 7,481
69 Bolivia 6.3 min 0.0% 4,121
70 Iran 6.2 min 0.8% 8,214
71 Costa Rica 5.8 min 0.3% 3,751
72 Kenya 5.6 min 0.1% 15,892
73 Denmark 3.2 min 0.2% 12,478
74 Tanzania 0.7 min 0.9% 9,335
75 Belize 0.0 min 0.0% 8,524

Cite this

The country with at least 100 flights a day whose airlines had the longest average departure delay in September 2023 was Pakistan: average departure delay 46.1 min (early and cancelled flights count as 0). Source: Airportia, "Airline delays by country, September 2023" (1–30 September 2023), https://www.airportia.com/statistics/countries/2023-09/, retrieved 3 November 2026.

Download the data (CSV)

Free to use, including commercially, under CC BY 4.0 : credit Airportia and link to this page. How to use our data. Press and data questions: contact@airportia.com.

How we calculate this

Which flights count
Every flight in Airportia's schedule data (from the Aviation Edge feed) that was scheduled to depart in the period, counted once: code-share listings of the same flight are left out. Days are UTC calendar days.
Departure delay
The actual departure time (or the latest reported estimate when no actual time came in) minus the scheduled departure time. A flight that left early or on time counts as 0 minutes. A flight with no reported departure time, cancelled flights included, also counts as 0, so where the feed is patchy the average is lower than the real one.
Average departure delay
The mean of those delays over all counted flights in the period. It is not the share of flights more than 15 minutes late (the usual on-time measure), and it is about departures, not arrivals.
Why there is no "most punctual" ranking
Because flights without a reported departure time count as 0 minutes, a low average can mean missing data rather than punctuality, and the stored figures do not say how many flights had a reported time. So we only rank the most delayed, and the delay rankings leave out every airport, airline or country whose average delay is exactly 0, which almost always means that no times were reported.
Cancellations
Flights with the status Cancelled, as a share of the counted flights in the period.
Countries
Flights of the airlines registered in the country, wherever they fly, not flights from the country's airports. Totals include all tracked flights, including cargo.
Period
A month combines three 10-day periods: days 1–10, 11–20 and the last ten days of the month, weighted by departures. In a 31-day month day 21 is not included; in February the second and third periods overlap by a day or two.
Minimum sample
Only countries with at least 3,000 flights in the period (100 a day) are ranked, so a handful of flights cannot top the list. 83 smaller countries were left out. 8 countries with an average delay of exactly 0 were left out too: that almost always means no departure times were reported.

Coverage follows the schedule feed: some regional airports and airlines are missing or report few actual times. These are Airportia's own figures, not official statistics from airports, airlines or regulators.