As the Iran war escalates and missiles & drones rain down in the West Asian region, airlines have been forced to cut down flights or delay them.
Major airlines have cancelled flights to hubs like Dubai (the UAE), Doha (Qatar), and Tel Aviv (Israel) since the US began military action against Iran on February 28, sparking a massive Iranian retaliation and regionwide conflict.
The cancellations are due to widespread airspace closures that require rerouting, increased fuel consumption from longer routes, and severe aircraft delays on Europe-Asia routes.
For example, Dubai International Airport has experienced massive delays and temporary closures due to drone and missile attacks, severely disrupting air travel.
Additionally, for airlines still flying passengers, flight times have been significantly extended due to restrictions in the United Arab Emirates and the complete shutdown of airspace over Iran, Iraq, and Jordan.
On a good day, there are airlines that are very punctual and rarely let their flyers down, as Cirium recently disclosed in its report, “On-Time Performance Review 2025”, which was published in January this year.
World’s Most Punctual Airlines
It must be remembered that it takes a combination of controlled and uncontrollable factors to achieve consistently high overall timeliness for an airline or individual aircraft.
For instance, a single early-morning delay might cascade into dozens of flights throughout the day due to personnel and aircraft rotations. The challenges range from unforeseen staffing problems to unpredictable weather.
In fact, the challenges affecting timeliness are becoming more complex than ever, with an expected 38.9 million international flights in 2025 and a fragile geopolitical situation that is limiting airspace. The Cirium report states rather categorically that the structural constraints “have become part of the baseline, not just temporary disruptions.”
However, some airlines beat most of the challenges they face and ensure a seamless flying experience for their passengers, as highlighted by the report.
The Cirium report recognises 12 airports and airlines worldwide that demonstrated exceptional punctuality last year, benefiting from increased passenger satisfaction and cost savings. Cirium measured on-time performance (OTP) as arrivals within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, using data from over 600 sources and millions of flights globally.
The Top 5 Punctual Airlines
The most punctual airline, according to the chart, was Aeromexico, which recorded 90.02% OTP across 188,859 flights—a clear step up from its 2024 performance, when it clocked 86.70% OTP across nearly 197,000 flights.
The performance last year stayed at or above 90% virtually every month, with no major prolonged dips recorded over all 12 months. In fact, the performance peaked in February at 93%, and strong results continued through the year.
Aeromexico outperformed its strong competitors in a year when global aviation faced ongoing challenges, including airspace complexity, weather, and operational pressures.
Moreover, it was the second year in a row that Mexico’s flag carrier has been ranked number one by Cirium, and the win was attributed mostly to sustained excellence, with minimal monthly dips and strong operational discipline.
The second-most-punctual airline, according to the report, is Saudi Arabia’s flagship carrier, Saudia, which recorded an OTP of about 86.53% across 202,864 flights.
The airline had a strong showing, benefiting from efficient operations at hubs such as Jeddah (JED) and Riyadh (RUH), strong fleet reliability, and relatively predictable regional weather or traffic patterns.
The top performance has been attributed to effective internal controls, such as fast turnaround times, strong ground handling, and a focus on schedule adherence, in a developing yet still manageable network, compared to ultra-high-volume carriers.
In fact, this is particularly noteworthy because it’s one of the few carriers in the Middle East to achieve pure OTP top ranks, where weather and ATC conditions can be more erratic than elsewhere.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) came in a close third in punctuality rankings by recording 86.09% over 249,674 flights. The airline delivered one of the biggest year-on-year improvements in the industry, up by 5 percentage points while operating nearly 30,000 more flights than the previous year. It focused on quick turnarounds, reliable crew scheduling, and proactive weather management at hubs like Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo.
The airliner delivered excellent performance even in tough Nordic winter conditions, which typically include snow, ice, and short daylight.
The fourth-most-punctual airline in the world last year was Brazil’s Azul, which recorded an OTP of 85.18% across 304,625 flights.
Among the top 5, Azul handled the most flights, which added to their remarkable consistency, especially in an area vulnerable to weather-related incidents, ATC difficulties, and quick expansion. The principal causes of their impressive performance were a focus on domestic efficiency in Brazil, High dispatch reliability, and proactive disruption management. They also ranked highly in Latin America.
Qatar Airways was ranked the fifth most punctual airline by Cirium. It recorded an OTP of 84.42% across 198,303 flights.
The airline’s on-time performance increased from 82.83% in 2024 to 84.42% last year over 198,303 flights. Cirium highlighted Qatar’s excellent utilisation of operational data analysis and connectivity flows to “retime and reroute” as needed during peak periods, regardless of whether the issues were caused by weather, geopolitics, or aircraft constraints.
“When disruption hit in 2025, including airspace constraints from geopolitical issues, weather volatility, and aircraft availability problems, the carrier protected key connection flows and used operational data to retime and reroute during irregular operations,” says Cirium. “Qatar got passengers where they needed to go.”
Qatar Airways received the Platinum honour by Cirium. Additionally, the airline is also named the world’s best airline by the air transport rating organisation Skytrax, highlighting its ability to maintain strong reliability across a vast, complex global network.
In addition to these top-5 global rankings, Philippine Airlines was ranked No. 1 in Asia-Pacific, with 83.12% punctuality across 116,268 flights. According to Cirium, this accomplishment was especially noteworthy because the airline’s home base, Manila Ninoy Aquino International, is an extremely busy airport.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines ranked number one in North America, with 80.9% punctuality across 1.8 million flights, despite the 43-day government shutdown and several issues with the air traffic control system that US airlines faced this year. Cirium called Delta an example of resilience.
Spain’s Iberia Express was the top airline in Europe for the third consecutive year. Despite challenges such as a significant power outage that disrupted air travel across the Iberian Peninsula and a worldwide software issue affecting its Airbus A320S fleet, it achieved 88.94% punctuality across 37,119 flights.
Copa Airlines, the flag carrier of Panama, ranked first in Latin America with 90.75% punctuality on 133,748 flights. According to Cirium, the area is becoming one of the “most dynamic” in the world of aviation, with estimates from the Airports Council International (ACI) indicating that it will account for 8.5% of global passenger traffic in 2025.
FlySafair, based in South Africa, achieved a punctuality rate of 91.06% across 62,805 flights, making it the top airline in the Middle East and Africa.
And lastly, Virgin Atlantic achieved 83.45% punctuality in 2025, a significant increase from 74.01% in 2023, and was crowned the Most Improved Airline
- Contact the author at sakshi.tiwari13 (at) outlook.com
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