South African airline named the most on-time in the world – BusinessTech

South African airline FlySafair has been named the most on-time airline in the Middle East and Africa, with an on-time score that surpasses that of the world’s official number one in the rankings.

In the Cirium 2025 On-Time Performance Review, FlySafair was named the leading on-time airline in the Middle East and Africa region with an impressive 91.06% of flights arriving on schedule.

While this is lower than the 93.82% achieved in 2024, it still places the airline at the top of the global rankings, although not officially.

Cirium’s rankings are based on more than 25 million data points from over 600 sources, making it one of the most trusted benchmarks of operational performance worldwide.

For the Global Rankings, however, Cirium only considers the top 10% of airlines based on capacity and volume criteria, provided they serve at least three different regions.

Using these metrics, FlySafair did not make the cut for the global ranking, as it is a smaller, largely domestic airline in a smaller regional market.

Despite this, the South African airline still achieved the highest on-time rating among all the airlines considered in the global and regional rankings.

Its performance score exceeded the global industry benchmark and outperformed the world’s most punctual global airline, Aeromexico, which recorded an on-time performance score of 90.02%.

Two other South African airlines, including Airlink and South African Airways, also ranked in the top 25 overall.

Cirium noted that FlySafair has developed a leading position in performance, owing to its precise scheduling and rapid 30-minute turnarounds.

The airline also heavily utilises real-time data and contingency planning to recover rapidly in the event of disruptions.

The airline has had to use those contingencies and systems this past week after a shortage of flight control staff led to delays over the weekend.

According to Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair, the performance award for 2025 is a standout achievement for the group, given the challenges it faces.

“With sustained challenges in air traffic management, fuel supply certainty, and airport infrastructure—including baggage handling systems that sit outside an airline’s direct control—maintaining reliable on-time performance has required extraordinary coordination and discipline,” he said.

“This result is a credit to the dedication of our teams.”

Before the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa’s domestic airline market comprised five operating companies across seven brands. However, the market has since scaled down significantly.

Previously, Comair operated British Airways and Kulula; South African Airways operated SAA and Mango; and FlySafair, CemAir, and Airlink each operated under their own brands.

Today, the market is served by five airlines: South African Airways (SAA), Lift, FlySafair, CemAir, and Airlink.

Since launching operations in 2014, FlySafair has consistently ranked among the world’s most punctual airlines, including multiple global awards for on-time performance.

FlySafair was also awarded the “Best Airline” award by public vote at the South African Civil Aviation Authority’s 2025 Excellence awards and took home the SkyTrax Award for “Best Low-Cost Airline in Africa”.

The table below outlines the top 10 Global Airline Rankings, including the regional scores of the airlines that did not qualify.