Virgin Atlantic Named Most Improved Airline as Aeromexico Retains World’s Best On-Time Performance
Cirium has released its 2025 On-Time Performance Assessment Report, naming Aeromexico as the world’s most on-time airline for the second consecutive year, while Virgin Atlantic captured the inaugural award for the airline with the greatest improvement in punctuality.
Aeromexico achieved an industry-leading 90.02% on-time performance rate in 2025, operating 188,859 flights across 23 countries. The carrier becomes just the second airline since 2009 to successfully defend Cirium’s global on-time performance title.
The Mexican airline finished well ahead of its closest competitors, with Saudi Arabian Airlines placing second at 86.53%, followed by Scandinavian Airlines at 86.09%. The nearly four-point gap between first and third place underscores Aeromexico’s operational consistency.
Regional Airline Champions
Cirium also recognized top-performing airlines across major regions:
- North America: Delta Air Lines retained its title for the fifth consecutive year, posting an 80.90% on-time rate.
- Europe: Spanish Express Airways (IAG) secured its third straight win with 88.94% on-time performance.
- Asia Pacific: Philippine Airlines claimed the regional crown for the first time, achieving 83.12%.
- Latin America: Panama Airways earned its 11th regional title, leading the region with a 90.75% on-time rate—the most wins of any airline since the program began.
- Middle East & Africa: Safa Air topped the region with a 91.06% on-time rate.
Qatar Airways Receives Platinum Honors
Qatar Airways was awarded the Cirium Airline Platinum Award, recognizing excellence across its complex global hub-and-spoke network. The Doha-based airline operated 198,303 flights across six continents in 2025, delivering an overall on-time performance rate of 84.42%.
Virgin Atlantic Wins New “Most Improved” Award
Cirium introduced a new category in 2025—“Most Improved On-Time Performance”—and named Virgin Atlantic as its first recipient. The British airline is projected to improve its on-time rate from 74.01% in 2024 to 83.45% in 2025, representing a 9.44 percentage-point increase.
The award is designed to recognize meaningful operational improvement among airlines with significant scale, requiring a prior-year on-time benchmark of at least 70% to ensure the distinction reflects true operational excellence.
Airport Performance Highlights
Airports worldwide also demonstrated strong punctuality in 2025:
- Large Airports: Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport led the category with an 87.04% on-time departure rate.
- Medium Airports: Tocumen International Airport in Panama topped its class with 93.34%.
- Small Airports: Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Ecuador won for the second consecutive year, achieving 91.47%.
Istanbul Airport received the Cirium Airport Platinum Award, which considers operational complexity, passenger impact from delays, and long-term growth. Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport held the title in 2024.
Industry Perspective
Maintaining consistent on-time performance requires meticulous network planning, efficient coordination, and rapid recovery from disruptions,” said Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium. “These rankings highlight the rigorous operational discipline that separates industry leaders.”
Bowen added that Qatar Airways’ Platinum Award demonstrates how a global hub carrier can maintain reliability across a highly complex network, while repeat wins by Panama Airways and Delta Air Lines highlight the benefits of sustained investment in operational excellence.
About the Report
Now in its 17th year, the Cirium Flight On-Time Performance Assessment Report analyzes data from more than 600 real-time sources, including airlines, airports, global distribution systems, and aviation authorities. An independent advisory board of aviation experts oversees the methodology.
A flight is considered on time if it arrives within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled gate arrival, while airport punctuality is measured by departures within the same time threshold.
About Cirium
Cirium provides aviation analytics services to support decision-making for airlines, airports, travel agencies, aircraft manufacturers, and financial institutions. The company analyzes flight data from over 600 data sources worldwide, tracking more than 35 million flights annually, providing management support for its on-time performance evaluation programs.
Cirium is a product of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a subsidiary of RELX, which provides information-based analytics and decision-making tools to professional and corporate clients worldwide. RELX PLC shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam, and New York Stock Exchanges (ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX).
