Who Ran the Tightest Operation in 2025? Aeromexico and Qatar Airways, Says Cirium
Aeromexico leads the global on-time rankings again, while Qatar Airways takes Cirium’s highest award for operational performance.
Photo: Courtesy of Aeromexico
Aeromexico has once again claimed the title of the world’s most on-time global airline, leading Cirium’s 2025 On-Time Performance Review with a 90.02 percent punctuality rate across nearly 189,000 flights. This is the second consecutive year that the Mexican carrier has topped the global rankings.
The annual review, which was released last week, evaluates airlines and airports worldwide based on arrivals within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of schedule. Cirium’s methodology draws from more than 600 real-time data sources, making it one of the industry’s most closely watched benchmarks for operational reliability.
Aeromexico’s performance placed it ahead of Saudia, which finished second at 86.53 percent, and SAS, which finished third at 86.09 percent. The margins were tight, reflecting what Cirium described as rising operational standards across the global airline industry. Alongside the global rankings, Cirium awarded Qatar Airways its 2025 Platinum Award for operational excellence. The Doha-based carrier posted an on-time rate of 84.42 percent across more than 198,000 flights spanning six continents, earning top honors for network performance rather than pure punctuality alone.
“Maintaining consistent on-time performance requires sophisticated network planning, operational coordination, and the ability to recover quickly when irregularities occur,” Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen said. “These results reflect the operational discipline that defines aviation’s top performers.”
Delta Air Lines led North America for the fifth consecutive year with an 80.90 percent on-time rate. Iberia Express topped Europe for a third straight year at 88.94 percent, while Philippine Airlines earned its first Asia-Pacific title with an 83.12 percent performance. In Latin America, Copa Airlines extended its own record with an eleventh regional win, posting a 90.75 percent on-time rate, and FlySafair led the Middle East and Africa category at 91.06 percent.
Cirium also named Virgin Atlantic the inaugural “Most Improved” airline, recognizing the carrier’s jump from 74.02 percent on-time performance in 2024 to 83.45 percent in 2025, a year-over-year gain of more than nine percentage points.
Airports were evaluated in parallel, with Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Chile winning the large-airport category at 87.04 percent on-time departures, Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport taking the medium-airport title at 93.34 percent, and Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport repeating as the top small airport at 91.47 percent. Istanbul Airport received Cirium’s Airport Platinum Award for operational complexity and consistency.
The next round of results, based on 2026 performance, is expected in early January 2027.
