The Breakbulk News website contains an interesting article reporting that global airline punctuality has entered a critical phase in 2025, with airline clients facing unprecedented strain as delays, cancellations, and limited cargo capacity ripple through international supply chains.
With our strong presence in the expedited international airfreight business, this is very important to the U-Freight Group.
According to Cirium, airlines showed sharp contrasts in punctuality this summer.
Flight cancellations underline the scale of the crisis. In Europe, June cancellations surged nearly 30% to 10,640 flights. In the United States, July saw an even steeper rise, with more than 20,000 flights cancelled—up nearly 42% year on year.
The punctuality collapse is placing unprecedented stress on air cargo. Cargo iQ data shows that 25 of the top 40 airlines are achieving only 76–77% shipment performance, well below customer expectations of 95% or higher.
Capacity constraints add to the challenge. Demand for air freight is forecast to rise between 6–10%, while capacity growth lags at 4–5%. This mismatch is creating an environment where delays and missed connections are becoming routine rather than exceptional.
What are we doing to overcome the problems?
More advanced planning, and flexible routing, as well as developing even closer airline partnerships so that we can maintain reliable services in the face of declining airline punctuality.
For more information about the U-Freight Group’s global air freight forwarding and logistics services, or our e-commerce logistics operations, please visit the relevant pages of this website or contact your local office, details of which can be seen here: https://ufreight.com/locations
