SIA rated 3rd most punctual airline in Asia-Pac

It trails Japan's JAL and ANA for 2024; no Singapore carrier ranked top 10 globally

- Vanessa Paige Chelvan and Esther Loi

Singapore Airlines (SIA) was the third most punctual airline in the Asia-Pacific in 2024, behind Japanese carriers Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA).

SIA's on-time performance score was 78.67 per cent in 2024, compared with 78.57 per cent in 2023, when it was ranked seventh in the region.

This data was released on Jan 1 by Cirium, an aviation analytics company.

A flight must arrive or depart within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival or departure time to be considered on time, according to Cirium.

Asia-Pacific winner JAL's on-time performance came in at 80.9 per cent, with ANA a close second at 80.62 per cent.

The Japanese carriers also topped the regional rankings in 2023, with ANA recording 82.75 per cent and JAL 82.58 per cent.

"(In the) Asia-Pacific, the on-time performance has dropped by just a slight 1 per cent or so (overall across all airlines), but the positions (of the top airlines) have almost been maintained," said Cirium's chief marketing officer, Mr Mike Malik, at a virtual press conference in December 2024.

SIA climbed the Asia-Pacific rankings despite not recording a significant improvement in on-time performance as the performance of other airlines has dropped, Mr Malik said.

"Singapore has stayed steady and maintained its standard," he added.

Apart from JAL and ANA, SIA was eclipsed in 2023 by low-cost carriers Thai AirAsia and IndiGo, as well as flag carriers Air New Zealand and Garuda Indonesia.