Tunisair or Nouvelair: which is more punctual? One year of flights compared

For many travellers, the choice is between the two Tunisian airlines: Tunisair, the national carrier, and Nouvelair, the private airline. They operate roughly the same number of flights, but not with the same reliability. We compared 43,121 flights recorded at Tunis-Carthage, Djerba-Zarzis and Monastir airports over twelve months, from October 2025 to September 2026.

One year in figures

	Tunisair	Nouvelair
Flights recorded	21,635	21,486
On time (≤ 15 min)	38%	66%
Average delay when late	82 min	55 min
Delays over one hour	28%	9%
Delays over three hours	6.2% (1,253 flights)	0.9% (178 flights)
Cancelled	89 (0.4%)	15 (0.1%)

The gap shows on every indicator. A Nouvelair flight is on time two times out of three; a Tunisair flight just over one time in three. Above all, more than one Tunisair flight in four is over an hour late, against fewer than one in ten at Nouvelair. Cancellations are rare at both airlines.

Airport by airport

Airport	Tunisair	Nouvelair
Tunis-Carthage	33%	58%
Djerba-Zarzis	66%	80%
Monastir	47%	70%

One might think Tunisair is held back by Tunis-Carthage, the busiest airport, where it operates almost 80% of its flights. That is partly true: its punctuality is much better in Djerba. But the gap with Nouvelair exists at all three airports, including Tunis, where both airlines share the same runways and the same peak hours.

On the same routes

On routes that both airlines operate (at least 150 flights each in a year), here is the share of flights on time:

Route	Tunisair	Nouvelair
Tunis – Marseille	38%	47%
Tunis – Lyon	35%	46%
Tunis – Nice	43%	36%
Tunis – Milan	36%	45%
Tunis – Istanbul	36%	71%
Tunis – Brussels	42%	60%
Tunis – Geneva	47%	62%
Tunis – Frankfurt	34%	68%
Tunis – Algiers	26%	60%
Tunis – Toulouse	35%	65%
Tunis – Düsseldorf	26%	61%
Tunis – Casablanca	46%	79%
Tunis – London Gatwick	36%	68%
Tunis – Munich	34%	71%
Tunis – Oran	40%	71%
Tunis – Bologna	30%	57%
Tunis – Strasbourg	44%	45%
Monastir – Nice	45%	60%
Monastir – Lyon	52%	67%
Djerba – Lyon	71%	70%

Nouvelair does better on 17 routes out of 20. Two routes are level (Djerba – Lyon and Tunis – Strasbourg), and Tunisair does better on only one, Tunis – Nice. To Marseille and Lyon from Tunis the gap is smaller: both airlines are often late there. For Paris, see our guide Paris – Tunisia.

Winter and summer

Period	Tunisair	Nouvelair
October 2025 – March 2026	34%	65%
April – September 2026	41%	66%

Nouvelair is steady all year, at around 65%. Tunisair improved in spring 2026 (53% in April, its best month) before falling back to 31% in August. Its worst month was January 2026: 27% of flights on time and 12% more than three hours late.

What it means for you

• If your arrival time matters (a connection, an appointment, a train to catch) and both airlines fly your route at the same price, Nouvelair is statistically the safer choice.
• With Tunisair, allow a margin: one flight in four leaves or arrives more than an hour late.
• On the day, follow the live status on the Departures and Arrivals pages, updated every 30 minutes.
• The figures change: the Tunisair and Nouvelair pages are updated continuously over the last 90 days.

Method

The figures come from the schedules published by OACA for Tunis-Carthage, Djerba-Zarzis and Monastir airports, collected every 30 minutes by Tunisia Airports from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. Each departure and each arrival at these three airports counts as one flight (a domestic flight such as Tunis – Djerba therefore counts twice). A flight is "on time" when it took off or landed at most 15 minutes late; for a departure, taxiing to the runway is included. Only flights that actually took off or landed are counted in the percentages. Tunisair flights sold as codeshares on other airlines' aircraft (Emirates, Etihad) are excluded. Tunisia Airports is an independent website, not affiliated with OACA or with the airlines mentioned.