Dealing with last-minute flight cancellations is incredibly frustrating for travellers, whether they’re flying back home for the holidays, travelling for work, or trying to make it in time for Taylor Swift’s highly-coveted Eras Tour.
Often times, cancellations are warranted due to unsafe flying conditions like dangerous weather, security concerns, or technical issues with aircraft.
However, some cancellations are within the airline’s control, such as those caused by staffing shortages, scheduling conflicts, or maintenance delays that could have been managed with better planning.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Kayla Zhu, shows the top 15 airlines with the highest flight cancellation rates and their total number of flights in 2024. The data comes from Cirium.
Which Airlines Have the Highest Cancellation Rate?
Below, we show the 15 airlines with the highest cancellation rates, their country of origin, and their total flights in 2024.
Dana Air had the highest cancellation rate among airlines tracked by Cirium, largely due to its suspension in April 2024 by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority following a runway incident. As of January 2025, the airline remains grounded pending safety and financial audits.
Most of the airlines with the highest cancellation rates are based in the Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa regions, with only one North American airline (Cape Air) and one European (Ural Airlines) among the list.
In 2024, Ural Airlines was added to the European Union’s sanctions list for allegedly supporting Russia’s military operations in Ukraine by transporting military personnel and establishing a special ticket-selling scheme with the Russian ministry of defence.
Smaller airlines that connect remote or island areas—such as Air Seychelles, Winair (Caribbean), Air Austral (Réunion and Indian Ocean islands), and Cape Air (U.S. and Caribbean)—often face higher cancellation rates due to challenges related to weather, infrastructure, and operational complexities.
Indonesian airlines, such as Lion Air, Wings Air, and Batik Air, also grapple with similar challenges of operating across an archipelago of over 17,000 islands and frequent extreme weather conditions like monsoons and volcanic eruptions.
To learn more about the best airlines in the world, check out this graphic that visualizes the most punctual airlines of 2024.
Dealing with last-minute flight cancellations is incredibly frustrating for travellers, whether they’re flying back home for the holidays, travelling for work, or trying to make it in time for Taylor Swift’s highly-coveted Eras Tour.
Often times, cancellations are warranted due to unsafe flying conditions like dangerous weather, security concerns, or technical issues with aircraft.
However, some cancellations are within the airline’s control, such as those caused by staffing shortages, scheduling conflicts, or maintenance delays that could have been managed with better planning.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the top 15 airlines with the highest flight cancellation rates and their total number of flights in 2024. The data comes from Cirium.
Which Airlines Have the Highest Cancellation Rate?
Below, we show the 15 airlines with the highest cancellation rates, their country of origin, and their total flights in 2024.
Dana Air had the highest cancellation rate among airlines tracked by Cirium, largely due to its suspension in April 2024 by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority following a runway incident. As of January 2025, the airline remains grounded pending safety and financial audits.
Most of the airlines with the highest cancellation rates are based in the Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa regions, with only one North American airline (Cape Air) and one European (Ural Airlines) among the list.
In 2024, Ural Airlines was added to the European Union’s sanctions list for allegedly supporting Russia’s military operations in Ukraine by transporting military personnel and establishing a special ticket-selling scheme with the Russian ministry of defence.
Smaller airlines that connect remote or island areas—such as Air Seychelles, Winair (Caribbean), Air Austral (Réunion and Indian Ocean islands), and Cape Air (U.S. and Caribbean)—often face higher cancellation rates due to challenges related to weather, infrastructure, and operational complexities.
Indonesian airlines, such as Lion Air, Wings Air, and Batik Air, also grapple with similar challenges of operating across an archipelago of over 17,000 islands and frequent extreme weather conditions like monsoons and volcanic eruptions.
To learn more about the best airlines in the world, check out this graphic that visualizes the most punctual airlines of 2024.
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