The world’s most punctual airlines have been revealed, including three European carriers – and no UK-based airlines.
The top 10 global airlines ranking also includes a large number of carriers based in North America and Latin America.
Aeromexico topped the list, with 90.02 per cent on-time performance.
It claimed the world’s most on-time global airline award for the second consecutive year, according to Cirium’s 2025 On-Time Performance Review.
The Mexican carrier is only the second airline to achieve consecutive global wins since Cirium launched the study in 2009.
It operates 188,859 flights across 23 countries while maintaining schedule reliability.
It held off strong competition from Saudia, which came in second place with 86.53 per cent punctuality.
In third place was SAS at 86.09 per cent.
Aeromexico was ranked as the world’s most punctual airline
The list includes carriers from around the world, across continents
Taking the fourth spot was Azul, followed by Qatar Airways and Iberia.
Plus, LATAM Airlines and Avianca came in seventh and eighth.
That was followed by Turkish Airlines and Delta Air Lines to round out the top 10.
That means the top 10 included three European carriers – SAS, Iberia and Turkish Airlines.
There are also regional awards, with Delta Air Lines topping the North American list, Iberia Express in Europe, Copa Airlines in Latin America, Philippine Airlines in the Asia-Pacific and Safair in the Middle East and Africa.
Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic won Cirium’s new ‘Most Improved’ award, demonstrating the largest year-on-year operational performance gain among global carriers.
The UK-based airline improved its on-time performance from 74.01 per cent in 2024 to 83.45 per cent in 2025.
This new award recognises airlines that have achieved large operational scale while making substantial improvements.
Iberia is one of the European carriers to make the top 10 most punctual list
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.’
The Cirium On-Time Performance Review analyses flight data from more than 600 real-time sources including airlines, airports, global distribution systems, and civil aviation authorities.
A flight considered ‘on-time’ arrives within 14.59 minutes of scheduled gate arrival time.
