The top 10 airlines that will get you to your destination on time

Japan Airlines has emerged as the most reliable carrier in the world, posting the best on-time performance.

After collecting real-time flight status information of the top 200 airlines in the world, Flightstats.com came up with a ranking that puts the Japanese carrier at the top of the heap: of the 129,300 flights tracked, in 2013, Japan Airlines posted an impressive 93 percent on-time departure rate and an 89 percent on-time arrival rate.

For the report, on-time performance for departures was defined as leaving within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, while arrivals had to come in within 14 minutes of the scheduled time to qualify.

To be considered in the report, published earlier this month, carriers must rank in the top 60 worldwide in terms of capacity and data tracking must be available on 90 percent of scheduled flights.

After Japan Airlines, Dutch airline KLM, ANA (All Nippon Airways), Iberia (Spain) and SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) posted the top five on-time performance stats.
Here are the top 10 performing international airlines, according to on-time performance:

1. Japan Airlines
   
   
2. KLM
   
   
3. ANA
   
   
4. Iberia
   
   
5. SAS
   
   
6. Saudi Arabian Airlines
   
   
7. Delta Air Lines
   
   
8. Air New Zealand
   
   
9. Lufthansa
   
   
10. Korean Air Lines
    
    

Here are the regional winners:

North America: Alaska Airlines
Europe Major Airline: KLM
Asia-Pacific Major Airline: Japan Airlines
Middle East and Africa Major Airline: Gulf Air
South America Major Airline: Copa Airlines (Panama)
Low-cost airline: Thai AirAsia