CNN — It may not come as a surprise to anyone who has gone on vacation this year, but the United Nations has made it official: global tourism returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2024. Amid stowaway passengers, creative efforts in the field of attempted contraband smuggling, and other aviation drama this year, there is some good news. Aviation analytics firm Cirium has compiled its annual ranking of the airlines and airports with the best on-time records. Flying can be stressful for plenty of reasons, and having information about which flight gives you the best chance of making your connection can somewhat reduce the sense of pre-travel anxiety. Cirium’s data is broken down by region and size of the airport or airline (based on the number of passengers served in a typical year). For its purposes, “on time” means that a scheduled flight arrives or departs within 14:59 of its scheduled arrival time. Overall winners Thinking about signing up for a loyalty program? All three of this year’s most punctual airlines are members of the SkyTeam alliance: Aeromexico, Saudia, and Delta Air Lines, in that order. Aeromexico and Delta are both founding members of the alliance, having been part of it since SkyTeam’s inception in 2000. Saudia, which is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, is newer to the group. However, the airline has major ambitions to grow over the next decade as part of a bigger tourism strategy in the country. Earlier this year, Saudia placed an order for 105 Airbus planes, which will nearly double the airline’s capacity. United Airlines takes off from Los Angeles International Airport, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022 in Los Angeles. (Ric Tapia via AP) According to Cirium, United had an on-time rate of 80.93% in 2024. Ric Tapia/AP Regional recognition Japan’s two largest airlines landed in the top two positions for promptness in the Asia-Pacific region: Japan Air Lines (JAL) winning the gold and All Nippon Airways (ANA) getting silver. Just four-tenths of a percentage point separated the two. Singapore Airlines came in third for the region. It has won the Best Airline in the World honor from Skytrax — considered the “Oscars of the aviation industry” — five times. Safair, a South Africa-based low cost carrier, was crowned the most punctual airline in the MENA (Middle East and Africa) region, followed by Oman Air and Royal Jordanian. In Europe, Madrid-based Iberia landed in second place, while its low cost subsidiary Iberia Express was in first. And for North America, Delta took top honors, followed by United and Alaska. In Latin America, Colombia-based Copa was the most punctual airline, winning that honor for the second year in a row. Hamburg, Germany, 19 December 2024 – Ireland’s national carrier Aer Lingus has taken delivery of its first of six A321XLR aircraft. The airline becomes the second in the world to operate the A321XLR as well as the second in the International Airlines Group (IAG). Related article New planes, new schedules, new routes: How air travel will change in 2025