According to official monthly punctuality data published by OAG, South Africa's Safair achieved an on-time performance rate of 94% across 5,139 flights in August, cancelling only three services during the peak summer travel rush. Among other top performers, Japan's Fuji Dream Airlines recorded a 93% on-time performance rate, Royal Jordanian achieved 91%, and Gulf Air registered 90%.
The OAG figures also highlighted carriers that maintained schedules without flight cancellations despite lower punctuality. UK leisure airline Jet2 operated 16,160 scheduled flights in August without a single cancellation, while recording an on-time performance rate of 60%. Similarly, Greece's SkyExpress completed 6,772 flights with zero cancellations and an on-time arrival rate of 52%.
In Europe, Scandinavian Airlines was identified as the region's most punctual carrier for August, delivering an 87% on-time arrival rate across its network. Aer Lingus followed in second place with an 83.1% on-time performance rate, while Icelandair ranked third among European airlines at 81.7%.
Separate industry data released by Cirium revealed a broader global trend of reduced operational disruptions during August. Global flight cancellations dropped by 17% month-over-month, falling from 71,840 in July to 59,785 in August. The Asia-Pacific region recorded the largest reduction in flight cancellations at 23%, followed by North America at 20% and the Middle East and Africa at 15%, whereas cancellations rose by 34% in Latin America and increased by 0.36% in Europe.
Regarding individual regional rankings from Cirium, Aeromexico topped both the global and Latin American on-time arrival charts with an 89.74% rate. Singapore Airlines led the Asia-Pacific region with an on-time arrival rate of 87.91%, while WestJet, Scandinavian Airlines, and FlySafair maintained their respective regional leadership positions across the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
