Which Airlines and Airports Mastered Global Punctuality in Cirium's 2025 Review?
Key Points
- 1Istanbul Airport (IST) and Qatar Airways earned Cirium's Platinum Awards for complete operational excellence in 2025.
- 2Aeroméxico was the world's most punctual airline for the second consecutive year, achieving 90.02% on-time performance.
- 3Delta Air Lines won North America, demonstrating resilience against the 43-day US government shutdown and repeated air traffic control system problems.
- 4Latin American airports—SCL, PTY, and GYE—swept the top spots for on-time performance across all three airport size categories.
The global commercial aviation sector faced significant headwinds in 2025. Structural constraints are now the baseline, not temporary disruptions, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. These challenges include staffing issues, weather volatility, and complex geopolitical airspace restrictions. Despite these hurdles, an estimated 38.9 million flights took place internationally. The new “On-Time Performance Review 2025” from Cirium highlights the airlines and airports that excelled in schedule reliability.
Operational Excellence: The Platinum Winners
Cirium's Platinum Awards recognize complete operational performance. This goes beyond simple on-time performance (OTP). It considers schedule execution, daily control, and recovery capability over a full year.
Istanbul Airport (IST) was named the Platinum Winner airport for 2025. This Turkish mega-hub handles over 84 million passengers annually. It connects 330 destinations across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In April 2025, IST became Europe’s first airport to implement triple independent runway operations. This innovation increased its capacity from 120 to 148 movements per hour. Cirium noted IST’s ability to show that “scale and complexity can coexist with consistency and control.” Its core OTP, defined as flights arriving or departing within 15 minutes, was 80.72%.
Qatar Airways was the Platinum Winner airline. The carrier also won the world’s best airline award from Skytrax in 2025. It achieved an 84.42% OTP across 198,303 flights. This was an improvement from 82.83% in 2024. Cirium credited the airline’s success to protecting key connection flows. It used operational data to retime and reroute flights during irregular operations. This resilience was key against geopolitical airspace constraints.
Global and Regional Airline Punctuality Leaders
For the second year in a row, Aeroméxico was the world’s most punctual airline based on OTP alone. Mexico’s flag carrier delivered 90.02% punctuality across 188,859 flights. This cements its position as a global leader in airline schedule reliability.
North America and Europe
Delta Air Lines took the top spot in North America for the fifth consecutive year. It achieved an 80.9% OTP across over 1.8 million flights. US airlines faced repeated air traffic control system problems. They also battled the historic 43-day government shutdown in late 2025. The shutdown forced air traffic controllers to work without pay. Delta was declared a model of resiliency during these challenging times. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues to address the aging infrastructure and staffing issues.
Spain’s Iberia Express was Europe’s No. 1 airline for the third year. It maintained 88.94% punctuality across 37,119 flights. This was despite a major power outage and a global software issue impacting its Airbus A320 fleet.
Latin America and Asia-Pacific
Panamanian flag carrier Copa Airlines (https://www.copaair.com) led Latin America with a 90.75% OTP. The region is a dynamic market, expected to account for 8.5% of global passenger traffic in 2025. Philippine Airlines was No. 1 in Asia Pacific. It achieved 83.12% punctuality across 116,268 flights. This is notable as its Manila hub is prone to congestion.
South Africa’s FlySafair was the leading airline in the Middle East and Africa. It achieved an impressive 91.06% punctuality.
Virgin Atlantic was named the Most Improved Airline in 2025. Its OTP rose sharply to 83.45%, up from 74.01% in 2023.
Top Performing Airports by Size
Latin America dominated the airport OTP rankings. These airports led their respective size categories based on annual seat capacity:
- Large Airport (25-50M seats): Santiago Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport (SCL), Chile, with 87.04% OTP.
- Medium Airport (15-20M seats): Panama City Tocumen International Airport (PTY), with 93.34% OTP.
- Small Airport (5-15M seats): Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo International (GYE), Ecuador, with 91.47% OTP.
These results demonstrate the critical link between operational discipline and passenger satisfaction. Airlines and airports that invest in resilience and technology reap clear rewards. For more commercial aviation news, visit flying.flights.
- Key Takeaways:
- Istanbul Airport (IST) and Qatar Airways won the Platinum Awards for overall operational excellence.
- Aeroméxico was the world's most punctual airline for the second consecutive year (90.02% OTP).
- Delta Air Lines won North America despite the 43-day US government shutdown and ATC issues.
- Latin American airports swept the OTP category wins across all three size classes.
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