South African airline takes the global title for on-time flights

FlySafair has been named the most on-time airline in Africa and the Middle East, boasting an excellent on-time score and securing the number one spot in the rankings.

This is from the Cirium 2025 On-Time Performance Review, which found that FlySafair had an impressive 91.06% ratio of flights arriving on schedule – unofficially positioning it at the top of the global rankings.

FlySafair is unable to qualify as the number one global flight due to the parameters of the rankings.

The rankings are based on more than 25 million data points from over 600 sources, which has positioned it as one of the most trusted benchmarks of operational performance worldwide.

For the global ranking, Cirium only assess the top 10% of airlines based on capacity and volume criteria and requires the considered airlines to serve at least three different regions.

Unfortunately, these requirements resulted in FlySafair not being considered in the global rankings, as it is a smaller, predominantly domestic airline.

That said, its performance score still exceeded the global industry benchmark and outperformed the world’s most punctual airline, Aeromexico, which recorded a 90.02% online performance score.

Along with FlySafair, two other South African airlines made it into the top 25 overall performers: Airlink and South African Airways.

Top global performer

Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair, has noted the achievement is especially noteworthy given the challenges the company 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.”

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa’s domestic airline market consisted of five operating companies across seven brands.

However, there has been a significant decline with today’s market being served by five airlines: South African Airways (SAA), Lift, FlySafair, CemAir, and Airlink.

FlySafair launched in 2014 and has consistently ranked among the world’s most punctual airlines, receiving multiple awards for its efficiency.

This includes the “Best Airline” award by public vote at the South African Civil Aviation Authority’s 2025 Excellence awards and the SkyTrax Award for “Best Low-Cost Airline in Africa”.