Qantas has finished the first half of the calendar year as the world’s most punctual major airline, according to global aviation data firm OAG.
In its monthly update on the punctuality of hundreds of passenger airlines, OAG reported that Qantas finished June as the world’s most on-time major carrier, finishing the month with an OTP (on-time performance) score of 87.16 per cent.
In the major airline category, which looks at carriers that operate more than 20,000 flights per month, Qantas beat South America’s second-largest carrier Avianca (87%) and Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo (86.64%) to the top spot.
Finishing considerably further behind were fourth-placed SAS Scandinavian Airlines (83.65%), Turkish LCC Pegasus Airlines (83.1%) and Brazilian budget airline Azul (81.92%).
Rounding out the top 10 most punctual major carriers for the month were LATAM Airlines Group (81.73%), Delta Air Lines (81.32%), China Southern Airlines (80.89%) and Alaska Airlines (80.38%).
The flying kangaroo’s performance wasn’t an aberration either. In May, the Aussie carrier placed third in the rankings (87.79%), while in April it finished in a commendable second spot (87.8%).
Qantas wasn’t the only high-flyer among Australasian airlines.
In the large airline category (between 10,000 and 20,000 flights), Air New Zealand (84.42%), Virgin Australia (80.12%) and Jetstar (75.86%) placed eighth, 18th and 24th, respectively.
The world’s most punctual large carriers were Saudi Arabian Airlines (92.41%), Copa Airlines (90.75%) and Korean Air (89.17%).
Another airline close to home, Garuda Indonesia (97.13%), topped the all airlines category (more than 1,500 flights), beating Fuji Dream Airlines (93.29%) and FlySafair (93.18%) to the prize.
When it comes to cancellations, Jetstar led Australasia’s carriers with only 0.77% flights cancelled, followed by Virgin (0.96%), Qantas (1.59%) and Air New Zealand (3.61%).
Qantas’ position as world’s most punctual carrier won’t do its brand reputation any harm. In May, the Airlines 50 2026 report by Brand Finance named the carrier the 13th most valuable airline brand in the world, with its value rising 24 per cent to US$3.2 billion (around AU$4.5B).
The result marked the carrier’s highest global ranking since 2019 and signals a continued recovery in both reputation and performance.
This finding, however, runs counter to more localised research by Roy Morgan, which named Qantas the fifth most distrusted brand in Australia in early June.
KARRYON UNPACKS: While punctuality grabs headlines more when it slips, results like this are still significant. For travellers and travel advisors alike, consistency can matter just as much as price when choosing an airline and building confidence in every booking.
