Summer flight chaos: These are the airlines with the most delays

• AirHelp analyzes airline punctuality at the end of the summer travel season

• Lufthansa had the most delayed passengers of any airline in 2022, with approximately 5.5 million passengers affected by flight problems

• Proportionally, Air Albania flights had the most delays

Berlin, September 27, 2022 - Many travelers in Germany who spent the summer away from home had to endure quite a few flight delays and cancellations. AirHelp (www.airhelp.de), the world's largest air passenger rights organization, has analyzed which airline has carried the most delayed passengers to their destination so far this year.

Most delayed passengers flew with Lufthansa 

Germany's largest airline also delivered the most passengers late - or not at all. Some 5.5 million passengers did not depart on schedule from one of Germany's airports, making Lufthansa the sad leader in the rankings. The low-cost airline SunExpress follows in second place by a wide margin, with around 0.85 million delayed passengers. An inglorious third place goes to Turkish Airlines, which is otherwise very popular with travelers, with around 0.84 million delayed passengers. 

1st place: Lufthansa, 5.5 million passengers

2nd place: SunExpress, 0.85 million passengers

3rd place: Turkish Airlines, 0.84 million passengers

4th place: Easyjet, 0.42 million passengers

5th place: Wizz Air, 0.33 million passengers

6th place: Pegasus Airlines, 0.31 million passengers

7th place: Eurowings, 0.27 million passengers

8th place: United Airlines, 0.18 million passengers

9th place: British Airways, 0.178 million passengers

10th place: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, 0.174 million passengers 

Lufthansa would have to pay the most refunds and compensation

From delays of more than three hours or cancellations, passengers are entitled to compensation payments under EU Directive EC 261, provided that the airline is to blame for the delay. Most of the compensation claims are on Lufthansa's account : with almost 300,000 passengers entitled to compensation and/or refunds, the airline once again lands in first place in the negative ranking. Eurowings comes in second place with around 170,000 passengers entitled to compensation or refunds. The Dutch KLM would have to make significantly fewer payments, with around 50,000 eligible passengers. 

1st place: Lufthansa, 300,000 passengers

2nd place: Eurowings, 170,000 passengers

3rd place: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, 50,000

4th place: Turkish Airlines, 43,000 passengers

5th place: Easyjet, 37,000 passengers

6th place: British Airways, 33,000 passengers

7th place: Ryanair, 30,000 passengers

8th place: United Airlines, 24,000 passengers

9th place: Wizz Air, 22,000 passengers

10th place: SAS, 6000 passengers

CEO of AirHelp, Tomasz Pawliszyn, comments: 

"The 2022 summer travel season was a real test of patience for many travelers. Cancellations, delays and long queues characterized the situation at airports across Germany. A common cause: the airlines overslept to increase staffing levels in good time. Particularly the airlines in our ranking have attracted negative attention this year, as a result of which a great many passengers can - and should - now claim compensation. AirHelp supports all travelers who want to exercise their rights against the airlines and helps them get the payments they are entitled to." 

Air Albania passengers had the greatest risk of delays 

However, if we look at how many passengers were delayed proportionately - in relation to the total number of passengers carried by an airline - a new ranking emerges: here, Air Albania takes first place. The Albanian airline transported around 95 percent of all passengers late, or not at all. It is closely followed by TUS Air from Cyprus, which delivered around 94 percent of its passengers late. Passengers from Egyptair were the third most likely to arrive late (88 percent). 

1st place: Air Albania, 95 percent

2nd place: TUS Air, 94 percent

3rd place: Egyptair, 88 percent

4th place: Fly One, 86 percent

5th place: China Airlines, 76 percent 

6th place: Air Baltic, 70 percent

7th place: Saudi Arabian Airlines, 62 percent

8th place: Middle Eastern Airlines, 57 percent

9th place: Srilankan Airlines, 56 percent

10th place: Singapore Airlines, 54 percent

Flight problems: Passengers have these rights

The amount of compensation is calculated based on the length of the flight. The rightful claim for compensation depends on the actual length of delay at the point of arrival as well as the reason for the cancelled or delayed flight. Affected passengers can enforce their compensation claim retroactively, up to three years after their flight date.

Exceptional circumstances such as severe weather or medical emergencies can have the effect of exempting the operating airline from the compensation obligation. Planned as well as spontaneous airline strikes do not count.

About the study

The study is based on flight data from January to September 2022 and investigated which airline was used by the most passengers experiencing flight disruptions when departing Germany. For accurate as well as meaningful data, AirHelp uses a variety of sources and combines them in a global flight database to eliminate coverage gaps in the data of some providers, among others. Providers are prioritized based on the quality of their data. When data conflicts (e.g., different arrival or departure times), the source with the highest authority is used instead of an average.

About AirHelp

AirHelp is the world's largest air passenger rights organization. Since its founding in 2013, the company has helped travelers enforce compensation for delayed or cancelled flights, as well as in the event of denied boarding. In addition, AirHelp takes legal and political action to further strengthen the rights of air passengers worldwide. The company has already helped more than 16 million people and operates worldwide.