It's an accolade. For the second year running, Aeromexico has been named the world's most punctual airline in 2025, with a global network, in a ranking by consultants Cirium of the best-performing airlines and airports in terms of punctuality.
According to the consultant's 2025 report, Aeromexico has reason to be proud, with an on-time arrival rate (i.e. including a delay of less than 15 minutes) of 90.02. In fact, Aeromexico becomes the second airline to win this title two years running since the ranking was launched in 2009. In 2025, Aeromexico operated almost 189,000 flights in 23 countries, demonstrating its great reliability in terms of schedules.
Aeromexico has a punctuality gap of almost 3.5 points with the second most punctual airline in the world, according to Cirium. The carrier Saudia ranks second with a punctuality rate of 86.53 %, closely followed by SAS at 86.09 %. Cirium nevertheless notes that the relatively small gap between the top positions illustrates a general rise in operational standards in air transport.
Latin America is a big hit
Scandinavia The awards then rained down across the continents. In North America, Delta Air Lines retained first place for the fifth year running, with 80.90 % flights per hour. Cirium did not include Aeromexico in the North American airlines category, giving American and Canadian carriers a chance.
In Europe, Iberia Express defended its title for the third year running, achieving a punctuality score of 88.94 %. This puts the regional carrier ahead of SAS and Austrian Airlines.
In Asia-Pacific, Philippine Airlines took first place for the first time in the region with 83.12 %. In Latin America, Copa Airlines confirmed its historic domination with an 11th regional win, posting a remarkable 90.75 %. Finally, in the Middle East and Africa region, Safair came out on top with 91.06 % of punctual flights.
Just to give out a few more awards, Cirium has given Qatar Airways its Airline Platinum Award. This award recognises operational excellence on complex global networks. The Doha-based airline recorded a punctuality rate of 84.42 % on more than 198,000 flights linking six continents.
Cirium also launched a new award in 2025, for the "airline with the greatest operational improvement". This award went to Virgin Atlantic. The British airline recorded the biggest annual improvement among the major carriers, raising its punctuality rate from 74.02 % in 2024 to 83.45 % in 2025.
As far as airports are concerned, Latin America 'crushes' the rest of the world. That's right, Santiago de Chile won the large airport category with the best punctuality rate, with 87.04% on-time departures. Panama City Tocumen airport came out on top among the medium-sized airports with a rate of 93.34%. Guayaquil, in Ecuador, retained the title of best small airport for the second year running, with a rate of 91.47%. In Europe, Scandinavian airports offer the best punctuality. Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm Arlanda vary between 83.59% and 86% of flights on time.
Finally, Istanbul airport also received the Airport Platinum Award, in recognition of its overall performance in the face of strong growth and high operational complexity.
