The most reliable airlines in 2025 have been revealed in a new ranking of flight operators on time for take-off.
Aviation analytics company Cirium announced the world’s most on-time carriers in its 17th annual “On-Time Performance Review” of global airlines.
Mexican flag carrier Aeromexico topped the on-time table for the second consecutive year, maintaining a 90.02 per cent performance across 188,859 flights.
According to Cirium, an on-time flight arrives within 14.59 minutes of its scheduled gate arrival time.
Saudia, the flagship carrier of Saudi Arabia, ranked second worldwide, with a punctuality performance rate of 86.53 per cent, and SAS took third with over 86 per cent of operations departing on time.
Regional winners included Delta Air Lines (80.90 per cent) for the fifth consecutive year in North America and Iberia Express (88.94 per cent) in Europe.
UK-based airline Virgin Atlantic placed as the “most improved” airline for 2025 with 83.45 per cent punctuality – a 9.44 per cent increase from its 74.01 per cent score in 2024.
Qatar Airways was also awarded Cirium's “Platinum Award” as recognition for the Doha carrier’s “operational excellence across its global hub network” and 84.42 per cent on-time performance.
As for airports, Santiago Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport won the large airport category, with 87.04 per cent of flights departing on time.
Jeremy Bowen, Cirium CEO, said: “Maintaining consistent on-time performance requires sophisticated network planning, operational coordination, and the ability to recover quickly when irregularities occur. These results reflect the operational discipline that defines aviation's top performers.”
"Qatar Airways' Platinum win is particularly significant because it demonstrates how a network carrier can maintain on-time performance across six continents while operating one of the industry's most complex hub structures. Their 84.42% on-time rate over 198,303 flights sets a new benchmark for network carriers.”
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