AFRICA’s airline operational performance came under increased pressure in July 2026, with the Middle East & Africa region recording the steepest month-on-month decline in on-time performance (OTP) in Cirium’s global assessment, amid airspace restrictions, severe summer weather, strikes and elevated seasonal demand. Globally, OTP fell from 86.29% in June to 83.55% in July, across more than 3.4 million scheduled passenger flights. Despite the challenging environment, African carriers featured prominently among OAG’s best-performing airlines, led by SOUTH AFRICA’s FlySafair, which ranked 6th globally among all airlines operating at least 1,500 flights, achieving an impressive 89.29% OTP across 5,333 flights, with just 0.15% cancellations. KENYA’s Jambojet ranked 10th globally, recording 86.54% OTP across 1,795 flights and a 0.45% cancellation rate, while South African Airways (SAA) placed 16th, with 85.24% OTP across 2,156 flights and 1.02% cancellations. Within AFRICA, FlySafair therefore led the continent, followed by Jambojet and SAA, with all three outperforming the global monthly OTP average of 83.55%. Cirium separately identified FlySafair as the leading carrier in the…
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