Air New Zealand has earned second place in the Asia Pacific region for 2025 in the Cirium On-Time Performance Review, while Virgin Australia and Qantas lagged, coming in at 8th and 9th respectively.
Air New Zealand achieved an on-time arrival rate of 79.29 per cent in 2025 and successfully operated 97.22 per cent of its scheduled services, completing 171,216 flights across its network.*
This represents an improvement on 2024, when 77.3 per cent of flights arrived on time. The global average is just over 76 per cent while Aeromexico maintained its top world ranking with a 90.02 per cent on-time performance claiming the title for the second consecutive year.
“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,” Cirium CEO, Jeremy Bowen, said.
Closer to home…
In Asia-Pacific, Air New Zealand’s domestic jet network stood out, with 81 per cent of services across the country achieving on-time arrival, followed by its regional network at 80.7 per cent.
Virgin Australia recorded an on-time arrival rate of 76.54 per cent while Qantas was not far behind with 76.54 per cent.
Air New Zealand general manager Airports Kate Boyer said the result is encouraging and reflects a large programme of work across the business to consistently improve on-time performance, an ongoing focus area with further improvements planned.
“Getting customers to where they need to be on time, and safely, is the fundamental proposition of any airline to its customers,” Boyer said. “Air New Zealand has a target for our on-time performance to be in the top five globally. We have more work to do to get to this level, but this result shows we are moving in the right direction.”
The airline’s improving performance follows several pieces of work including the introduction of a new scheduling strategy across its regional network, which came into effect in 2025, and involved rethinking how schedules are built to better reflect the realities of operating at different airports across the country.
Previously, aircraft turn times (how long the aircraft is on the ground before its next flight) were one size fits all, regardless of where an aircraft was landing. Through this review, the airline recognised that turn times can vary significantly depending on the airport, how busy it is, and the specific gates being used.
“For example, at Auckland Airport we know some gates require extra time for aircraft tugs to meet the aircraft, so we have allowed for that in the schedule. By planning around what actually happens on the ground, we are setting ourselves up for stronger, more reliable performance for our customers.”
The implementation of this strategy brought about significant improvement in on-time performance at the end of 2025, with 84.5% of the airline’s regional flights arriving on time in November, followed by 81.2 per cent in December.
This approach is now being rolled out across Air New Zealand’s international and domestic jet network. As part of that work, the airline is also developing its own digital tool for improving schedule timings, designed to assess the specific needs of each port it operates to and recommend changes that support improved on-time performance.
“Alongside the schedule work we’ve also focused on additional training for our frontline teams, created a new customer assistance role dedicated to providing wheelchair services, invested in equipment and tools to support our ground operations, and embedded a digital communications application across the operation enabling our teams communicate effectively and efficiently,” Boyer added.
“This is a business-wide effort. On-time performance is not something we look at once a year. It is a daily focus. While it is great to have our progress reinforced in this annual report, what matters most to us is delivering for our customers every day.”
*On-time arrivals are based on A15 data, which counts a flight as on time if it arrives at the gate within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time.
Aeromexico’s global lead
Internationally, the Mexican carrier becomes only the second airline to achieve consecutive global wins since Cirium launched the program in 2009, operating 188,859 flights across 23 countries while maintaining industry-leading schedule reliability.
Aeromexico secured the global airline title with 90.02 per cent on-time performance, holding off strong competition from Saudia in second place with 86.53% and SAS with 86.09% in third. The margin between first and third place was 3.93 percentage points, reflecting rising operational standards across the industry.
Regional winners included:
- North America: Delta Air Lines won for the fifth consecutive year with 80.90% on-time performance
- Europe: Iberia Express (International Airlines Group) defended its title for the third consecutive year with 88.94% performance
- Asia-Pacific: Philippine Airlines claimed the regional title for the first time with 83.12% on-time performance
- Latin America: Copa Airlines achieved its 11th win, the most of any airline since Cirium’s program launched in 2009 with 90.75% on-time performance
- Middle East and Africa: Safair topped the regional rankings with 91.06% on-time performance
Qatar’s Platinum Award
Qatar Airways captured Cirium’s Platinum Award, recognising the Doha-based carrier’s operational excellence across its global hub network. The airline achieved 84.42 per cent on-time performance across more than 198,303 flights spanning six continents.
“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,” Cirium’s Bowen, said.
“Their 84.42 per cent on-time rate over 198,303 flights sets a new benchmark for network carriers. Similarly, Copa’s 11th win for the Latin American category and Delta’s fifth consecutive North American win reflects sustained operational focus that separates industry leaders from competitors.”
Virgin Atlantic’s inaugural ‘Most Improved’ Award
Virgin Atlantic won Cirium’s new ‘Most Improved’ award, demonstrating the largest year-over-year operational performance gain among global carriers. The UK-based airline improved its on-time performance from 74.02 per cent in 2024 to 83.45 per cent in 2025 — a 9.44 percentage point increase year-over-year.
The new award recognizes airlines that have achieved meaningful operational scale (minimum 70 per cent baseline performance) while delivering substantial improvements, ensuring the honor reflects genuine operational excellence, rather than recovery from poor prior performance.
Strong global airport performance
Santiago Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport won the Large Airport category, with 87.04 per cent of flights departing on time.
Panama’s Tocumen International Airport won the Medium Airport category, with 93.34 per cent 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 per cent of flights departing on time.
Istanbul Airport won Cirium’s Airport Platinum Award, which evaluates operational complexity, passenger impact during disruptions, and growth trajectory. Last year’s Airport Platinum winner was El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia.
About the On-Time Performance Review
Now in its 17th year, the Cirium On-Time Performance Review analyses flight data from over 600 real-time sources including airlines, airports, global distribution systems, and civil aviation authorities. An independent advisory board of aviation industry veterans provides oversight and guidance.
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 both airlines and airports consider operational complexity, network scale, passenger impact during disruptions, and consistency throughout the year.
