The best (and worst) airlines in 2016?

Australian airline Qantas has made it into the world's top 10 carriers listing, although only just.

Dutch airline KLM, Spanish carrier Iberia and Japan's JAL were named as the top three global carriers based on their on-time arrivals and departures, tracked by FlightStats. 

Qantas performed well on the departures front compared to the other airlines with 85% of flights leaving on time but fell short on arrivals with 84% of flights on time - compared to KLM’s 88% rate.

The Aussie airline's average time delayed on the tarmac was 45.4 minutes, whilst arrival flights were late by 44 minutes. In all, just under 16% of Qantas flight's suffered delays. 

However, Qantas was named as the world's safest airline by AirlinesRatings earlier this week, with zero fatalities in its 96 year history.

Also read: Sydney to undergo more chaos for rail link

On FlightStats worst of the worst list, Israeli carrier El Al was at the bottom of the pile, followed by Icelandair and Air India, based on their punctuality - or lack of. 

The Best 10 International Airlines of 2016

• 10. Qantas – 15.7 percent

• 9. TAM Linhas Aéreas – 14.93 percent

• 8. Delta Air Lines – 14.83 percent

• 7. Singapore Airlines – 14.55 percent

• 6. ANA – 14.46 percent

• 5. Austrian – 14.26 percent

• 4. Qatar Airways – 13.66 percent

• 3. JAL – 12.2 percent

• 2. Iberia – 11.82 percent

• 1. KLM – 11.47 percent

The Worst 10 International Airlines of 2016

• 10. Hainan Airlines – 30.3 percent

• 9. Korean Air – 31.74 percent 

• 8. Air China – 32.73 percent

• 7. Hong Kong Airlines – 33.42 percent

• 6. China Eastern Airlines – 35.8 percent

• 5. Asiana Airlines – 37.46 percent

• 4. Philippine Airlines – 38.33 percent

• 3. Air India – 38.71 percent

• 2. Icelandair – 41.05 percent

• 1. El Al – 56 percent