Cirium reveals top most punctual airlines and airports in 2025
Cirium just unveiled its review of top on-time airlines and airports performance for the year 2025. Aeromexico has once again been named the world’s most on-time global airline, posting a 90.02% on-time arrival rate in Cirium’s 2025 On-Time Performance Review. It is the second consecutive year the Mexican flag carrier has topped the global rankings, a feat achieved by only one other airline since Cirium launched the program in 2009.
The airline operated 188,859 flights across 23 countries in 2025, combining scale with industry-leading schedule reliability. Aeromexico finished well ahead of Saudia, which placed second with an 86.53% on-time rate, and SAS in third at 86.09%. The 3.93-percentage-point spread between first and third highlights both Aeromexico’s consistency and the increasingly high operational standards across global aviation.
Cirium also crowned regional champions across the industry. In North America, Delta Air Lines claimed the top spot for a fifth straight year with 80.90% on-time performance. Iberia Express defended its European title for the third consecutive year, posting an 88.94% on-time rate. Philippine Airlines earned its first Asia-Pacific crown at 83.12%, while Copa Airlines continued its dominance in Latin America, securing its 11th regional win—the most of any airline since the program began—with a 90.75% performance. In the Middle East and Africa, Safair led the rankings with an impressive 91.06% on-time rate.
Qatar Airways received Cirium’s Airline Platinum Award, which recognizes operational excellence across complex global networks. The Doha-based carrier achieved an 84.42% on-time rate across more than 198,000 flights spanning six continents, underscoring its ability to deliver reliability at scale.
Virgin Atlantic was named the inaugural recipient of Cirium’s new “Most Improved” award after recording the largest year-over-year performance gain among global carriers. The airline improved its on-time arrival rate from 74.02% in 2024 to 83.45% in 2025, a jump of 9.44 percentage points. The award is designed to recognize meaningful operational improvement built on a solid performance baseline, rather than recovery from severe disruption.
Airports were also recognized for punctuality and operational excellence. Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (Chili) won the Large Airport category, while Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport topped the Medium Airport rankings. Guayaquil’s José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport claimed the Small Airport title for the second year in a row. Istanbul Airport received the Airport Platinum Award, honoring performance amid operational complexity, passenger impact, and growth.
“Maintaining consistent on-time performance requires sophisticated planning, tight coordination, and the ability to recover quickly from disruption,” said Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen. “These results highlight the operational discipline that separates aviation’s top performers from the rest of the industry.”
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