According to the latest data from the European air navigation organization Eurocontrol, 25.8% of flights in Spain fail to arrive on time. The reasons for these delays vary, including issues by airlines (such as strikes, flight schedules, and technical incidents) and unforeseen circumstances, like adverse weather conditions, leading to significant delays.
The most punctual airport in Spain is the Tenerife North airport with an 81.3% punctuality rate. It is also ranked 4th on the European punctuality ranking, with other airports in Spain also on the list, including, Bilbao (6th with 80.7%), and Sevilla (11th with 78.6%), according to data from Reclamio, a company specializing in handling claims from air passengers who say that over 40% of the complaints it has processed in 2023 are due to the excessive lateness of flights.
These figures for the Tenerife North, Bilbao, and Seville Airports align with the data recorded by Reclamio this year, placing them among those with the fewest complaints and demonstrating that, as a general rule, a higher punctuality rate results in fewer complaints. Thus, Tenerife Norte Airport has received only 2.2% of the total complaints in 2023; Bilbao, 3.2%, and Sevilla, 2.1%.
In contrast, the country's largest airports, Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat, rhave lower punctuality rates. Madrid-Barajas has a punctuality rate of 78.3% (ranked 13th in the punctuality classification), while Barcelona-El Prat has a punctuality rate of 74.6% (ranked 29th). Madrid-Barajas accounted for 35.5% of complaints received by Reclamio.com, and Barcelona-El Prat received 20.1%.
