South African Airways (SAA) is now the most punctual airline in Africa, having overtaken Kenya Airways (KQ) and Ethiopian Airlines (ET) in on-time arrivals, underscoring how aircraft groundings and global parts shortages have disrupted operations at some of the continent’s largest carriers.
Flight records show that the South African flag carrier emerged as Africa’s most punctual airline in 2025, despite operating a significantly smaller fleet and route network than its East African rivals.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, SAA landed 81.26 percent of its 24,461 flights on time, making it the continent’s top-performing flag carrier in punctuality.
The result marks a notable shift. Kenya Airways had been Africa’s most punctual flag carrier in both 2023 and 2024, while Ethiopian Airlines dominated the ranking for five consecutive years before that. During their peak years, both airlines consistently completed more than 70 percent of flights on schedule.
Kenya Airways’ on-time performance in 2025 stood at about 76 percent, an improvement from 72 percent the previous year.
However, it still lagged behind leading airlines in the broader Middle East and Africa region, where operational resilience has increasingly become a competitive advantage.
Ethiopian Airlines’ performance has been sliding since 2023. In 2022, the Addis Ababa-based carrier ranked sixth in the Middle East and Africa region and first in Africa, with 77 percent of its flights arriving on time.
Its punctuality dropped to below 70 percent in 2023, and it has since struggled to reclaim its position as Africa’s most reliable flag carrier, despite remaining the continent’s largest airline by passenger numbers and fleet size.
Industry analysts attribute the decline in punctuality at both KQ and ET largely to a worldwide shortage of aircraft parts, which has prolonged maintenance cycles and forced airlines to ground aircraft for extended periods.
The shortage, which followed supply chain disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic, has continued to weigh heavily on global aviation.
Throughout 2025, Kenya Airways had at least 11 aircraft grounded at various points for maintenance, significantly constraining capacity and triggering delays and cancellations across its network. Ethiopian Airlines similarly had eight planes grounded during the year.
South African Airways, by contrast, appears to have largely sidestepped the crisis. None of its 20 aircraft were grounded during the period, allowing the airline to maintain schedule integrity and benefit from its leaner operations.
Beyond flag carriers, South Africa’s low-cost airline Safair retained its position as the most punctual airline in both the Middle East and Africa regions. Safair completed 91 percent of its flights on time in 2025, highlighting how simpler fleets and shorter turnaround times can enhance reliability.
On-time performance is a critical metric in aviation, closely tied to customer satisfaction and operating costs. Persistent delays can expose airlines to regulatory scrutiny, financial penalties and higher compensation payouts, while also eroding passenger loyalty in an increasingly competitive market.
As global supply chains gradually stabilise, Africa’s major carriers are expected to focus more aggressively on fleet reliability and maintenance planning, with punctuality likely to remain a key battleground for market leadership.
