World’s most punctual airlines and airports in 2025

Keeping airline and airport schedules running on time involves many variables, from staffing issues to unpredictable weather.

It is estimated that 38.9 million flights will take place internationally in 2025, and with sensitive geopolitical situations creating airspace constraints, the hurdles impacting punctuality are more difficult than ever.

In the airline industry, structural constraints “are becoming part of the baseline, not just a temporary disruption,” aviation analytics firm Cirium says in a new report, On-Time Performance Review 2025.

We highlight 12 airports and airlines around the world that achieved outstanding results in terms of punctuality, passenger satisfaction and cost savings last year.

Let’s take a look at who won and why.

performance and reliability

Istanbul Airport (IST) is a 2025 Platinum-awarded airport, leading the world in terms of performance and reliability.

Turkey’s mega-hub is one of the busiest and best-connected airports in the world, serving more than 84 million passengers annually across 330 destinations. In April 2025, we introduced Europe’s first three independent runway operations, increasing capacity from 120 to 148 flights per hour.

Located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, a minor disruption here, left unchecked, can quickly spread across regions and time zones, but Sirium said Istanbul Airport had demonstrated in 2025 that “scale and complexity can coexist with consistency and control.”

The airport’s on-time performance (OTP), defined by Cirium as the percentage of flights departing or arriving within 15 minutes of schedule, was 80.72%. On this basis alone, Istanbul ranks 19th in the world in the large airport category, between San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in 18th place and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW) in 20th place.

However, Cirium emphasizes that the Platinum Winner award is based on schedule execution, day-to-day operational management, and complete operational performance that balances on-time performance with recovery capabilities over a one-year period.

In terms of OTP, the best-performing large airport in the world was Chile’s Santiago Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport, which maintained an on-time performance of 87.04% with 153,326 flights on 68 routes. In 2022, the airport opened a brand new Terminal 2, more than doubling its annual passenger capacity.

Panama City Tocumen International Airport was the world’s best performing mid-sized airport, maintaining an on-time performance of 93.34% with 96 routes and 148,065 flights.

Ecuador’s Guayaquil Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport was the world’s No. 1 small airport with an on-time performance of 91.47% for 34,068 flights on 19 routes.

Cirium defines large airports as those that handle 25 million to 50 million seats per year, medium airports as those that handle 15 million to 20 million seats, and small airports as those that handle 5 million to 15 million seats.

Qatar Airways, named the world’s best airline in 2025 by air transport rating agency Skytrax, has added another accolade to its ranks by being named a Platinum Award-winning airline.

Last year, the airline achieved an on-time performance rate of 84.42% with 198,303 flights operated, up from 82.83% in 2024.

“When disruptions occurred in 2025, such as airspace constraints due to geopolitical issues, weather instability, and aircraft availability issues, airlines secured key connectivity flows and used operational data to make time changes and reroutes during irregular operations,” Cirium said. “Qatar took passengers where they needed to go.”

In terms of on-time performance alone, the world’s number one airline for the second year in a row was Mexico’s flag carrier, Aeromexico. Achieved punctuality of 90.02% on 188,859 flights.

Philippine Airlines achieved 83.12% on-time performance with 116,268 flights, ranking first in the Asia-Pacific region. Sirium noted that this achievement was especially impressive because the company’s home base, Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport, is prone to congestion.

Delta Air Lines achieved 80.9% on-time performance on more than 1.8 million flights, earning the No. 1 honor in North America. While U.S. airlines have struggled this year with repeated air traffic control system issues and a 43-day government shutdown, Cirium declared Delta Air Lines a model of resilience during these difficult times.

Spain’s Iberia Express is Europe’s No. 1 airline for the third year in a row. The airline achieved an 88.94% on-time performance rate with 37,119 flights despite facing obstacles such as a widespread power outage affecting air travel across the Iberian Peninsula and a global software issue affecting its Airbus A320 fleet.

Copa Airlines, Panama’s flag carrier, achieved an on-time performance of 90.75% with 133,748 flights, making it number one in Latin America. Sirium said the region is emerging as one of the “most dynamic” regions in the global aviation industry and is expected to account for 8.5% of global passenger traffic in 2025, according to Airports Council International (ACI) forecasts.

South Africa’s Flysafair is a leading airline in the Middle East and Africa, achieving an on-time performance rate of 91.06% on 62,805 flights.

Finally, Virgin Atlantic was named the Most Improved Airline of 2025 with an 83.45% on-time performance. This is a significant increase from 74.01% in 2023.

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