Garuda Indonesia secured the title of the world’s most punctual airline for May, achieving an exceptional On-Time Performance (OTP) rate of 97.77%, according to the latest data released by aviation analytics firm OAG.
The monthly report highlights a dominant performance by Asian-based carriers, which claimed half of the spots in the global top ten, with North East Asian airlines leading the charge. Among the standout regional performers was South Korean low-cost carrier (LCC) Jeju Airlines. Finishing sixth globally with a 92.18% OTP, Jeju Airlines managed a flawless operational record, reporting zero cancellations across all 6,682 tracked flights.
Breaking the Asian stronghold was Royal Jordanian, which claimed third place globally. The airline achieved a remarkable 93.68% OTP and a minimal cancellation rate of just 0.60%—a performance industry analysts consider highly impressive given ongoing regional disruptions.
A total of sixteen airlines globally achieved a 100% operational completion rate in May, completely eliminating cancellations from their schedules.
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Jet2: The UK-based leisure airline led the volume category for perfect operations, successfully running all 14,298 scheduled flights without a single cancellation, while maintaining a 68.99% OTP.
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CEBU Pacific: The Philippine carrier closely followed, executing its entire schedule of 12,412 flights flawlessly with a strong OTP of 81.84%.
The OAG data revealed a broader industry trend in May: low-cost carriers generally maintained lower cancellation rates than their legacy counterparts.
In the LCC sector, Norwegian Air Shuttle emerged as Europe’s most punctual budget airline, securing the second-place spot globally behind Jeju Airlines. However, the trend was not universal; carriers such as Citilink (2.61%), Urumqi Airlines (1.36%), and Azul Airlines (1.25%) bucked the LCC trend with higher-than-average cancellation rates.
While many carriers celebrated historic highs, May proved to be an incredibly challenging month for Intercaribbean Airways. The airline faced severe operational pressure, with only two-thirds of its flights departing on time. Additionally, it recorded a 14.88% cancellation rate—the highest of any tracked carrier globally.
Other airlines experiencing significant operational strain included Air Inuit, China Express Airlines, and SpiceJet, which all cancelled upwards of 5% of their planned flight schedules.
