Virgin Atlantic ranked ‘most improved’ in global punctuality league table

Virgin Atlantic has been ranked as ‘the most improved airline’ in a global punctuality league table.

 

The rankings were compiled by aviation analytics specialist Cirium, for its 2025 On-Time Performance Results, which features airlines and airports around the world.

 

The 2025 figures show that UK-based Virgin Atlantic won the inaugural ‘Most Improved’ award, increasing its on-time performance from 74.01% in 2024 to 83.45% in 2025 – a 9.44 percentage point increase year on year.  

 

Cirium said the new award recognises airlines that have achieved “meaningful operational scale”, from a minimum 70% baseline performance, while delivering “substantial improvements”, ensuring the award reflects “genuine operational excellence rather than recovery from poor prior performance”.

 

Aeromexico maintained a 90.02% on-time performance to claim the world’s most on-time global airline title for the second consecutive year. Saudia was in second place with 86.53% and SAS with 86.09% in third.

 

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Regional winners included Delta Air Lines in North America (80.90%), Iberia Express in Europe (88.94%), Philippine Airlines in Asia-Pacific (83.12%), Safair in Middle East and Africa (91.06%) on-time and Copa Airlines in Latin America (90.75%).

 

Virgin Atlantic also ranked as fifth in the European table, behind Iberia Express, SAS, Austrian and Iberia.

 

Qatar Airways won Cirium’s Platinum Award, recognising the Doha-based carrier’s “operational excellence” across its global hub network. The airline achieved 84.42% on-time performance across more than 198,303 flights spanning six continents.

 

Santiago Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport won the Large Airport category, with 87.04% of flights departing on time.

 

Panama’s Tocumen International Airport won the Medium Airport category with 93.34% of flights departing on time. Ecuador’s Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport claimed the Small Airport title for the second year in a row with 91.47% of flights departing on time.

 

Istanbul Airport won Cirium’s Airport Platinum Award, which evaluates operational complexity, passenger impact during disruptions and growth trajectory.

 

Jeremy Bowen, Cirium chief executive, said: “Maintaining consistent on-time performance requires sophisticated network planning, operational coordination and the ability to recover quickly when irregularities occur. These results reflect the operational discipline that defines aviation’s top performers.

 

“Qatar Airways’ Platinum win is particularly significant because it demonstrates how a network carrier can maintain on-time performance across six continents while operating one of the industry’s most complex hub structures.”

 

An on-time flight arrives within 14:59 minutes of scheduled gate arrival time. Airport punctuality measures flights departing within 14:59 minutes of scheduled departure time.

 

The Platinum Awards for airlines and airports consider operational complexity, network scale, passenger impact during disruptions, and consistency throughout the year.