The best airport for 2023 in the Middle East & Africa according to the data we gathered is the King Shaka International Airport in Durban, South Africa with 10.13% delayed or canceled flights. With a quickly expanding network, it is the third biggest airport in the country, managing to recover 68% of pre-COVID passengers during the 2022/23 financial year.
The second place for the most punctual airport is the Sharjah International Airport (UAE) with 89.26% on-time arrivals. It has been a leading one for the region over the past few years. A renovation project for more than $410 million is set in place for the next 2 years, involving a new terminal for arrivals, expansion of the airport’s infrastructure and overall renovations. The country is one of the biggest investors in the sustainability field, introducing the first electrical vehicles for the airport in 2023 and aiming for completely carbon-free public transportation by 2050.
From the information we found, the third most punctual airport for the region is Africa’s biggest and busiest one: O.R. Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg with 86.87% of timely flights. In 2023 the airport recovered 81% of passenger traffic compared to 2019 levels. It is a hub for investors and businesses from all over the world. A good example is South African Airways’ investment in a luxurious ‘First-Class Platinum lounge’ for the airport, expected later in 2024 as an initiative to promote excellent service and boost passenger experience on-ground.
Methodology
To come up with the list of best and worst airlines the team at BestBrokers analysed OAG’s On-time performance (OTP) data from January-December 2023. We calculated the shares of delayed and canceled flights for all airlines with over 20,000 flights last year, comparing them to the total number of flights each one had to come up with the ranking for the best and worst-performing airlines in 2023.
Furthermore, we looked into the busiest airports in the Middle East & Africa with over 20,000 flights for 2023 and ranked them based on delays and on-time departures to establish the best-operating ones. Additional information was sourced from the IATA and the official websites of airlines and airports.
