GACA issues January report on airports, airline on-time performance

The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) released the first edition of its monthly report on the on-time performance of Saudi airports and national carriers for January 2025.

The report, which gauges performance based on departures/arrivals that occur within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, complements other GACA monthly reports that evaluate airports and airlines' service quality performance. 

Among international airports with more than 15 million passengers annually, Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport ranked first with an 81% compliance rate.

In the category of international airports with five to 15 million passengers annually, Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport topped with 81% compliance.

As for international airports with two to five million passengers per year, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport (Jizan) led with a 91% compliance rate.

NEOM Bay International Airport took first place in the fourth category of international airports with less than took million passengers annually, with a 97% compliance rate.

Meanwhile, for domestic airports, Sharurah Airport led with 97% compliance.

The following table breaks down the on-time departure performance of Saudi airports in January 2025:

Saudi Airlines (Saudia) topped national carriers in terms of compliance to arrival and departure flights, with 86% and 88%, respectively. Meanwhile, flyadeal came in second with 80% and 83% compliance to arrivals and departures, respectively.

The report showed that the Abha-Jeddah route topped domestic routes in terms of compliance at 95%. The Jizan-Riyadh route followed with 94% compliance.

*Selected from the 20 busiest routes.

Internationally, the Dammam-Dubai route topped with a 93% compliance rate, followed by the Riyadh-Bahrain route (88%).

*Selected from the 20 busiest routes.

GACA indicated that cancelled flights are excluded when calculating the compliance rate. The actual time is calculated when the aircraft starts moving (push back from the stand) and when it stops moving (on stand with brakes on).